Remus groaned as he regained consciousness. A throbbing pain in one temple told him that his head was still on, and the ache in his legs let him know they were there as well. He forced his memory back….
After leaving the Leaky Cauldron, he had followed Gillian up Diagon Alley, not asking where they were going, until she made to turn off.
"That's Knockturn Alley!" he said sharply.
"That's right," Gillian said calmly. "That's where we've got to go." She glanced at him. "Do you want to help your friends or not?"
"Oh, I do, of course," he said. She turned and continued; he followed. He'd been down Knockturn Alley several times, and hadn't liked it at all. Nor did he find it improved now; it still was dark, dingy, and reeking of evil.
Gillian led the way unerringly to a small door in one of the forbidding-looking buildings. She pushed it open and walked in. Inside was a desk, with an old man nodding behind it. He straightened up as they walked by, glanced at Gillian, and waved them on. Gillian led Remus up a rickety flight of stairs to a door at the top. She paused at the door, looking suddenly nervously. Remus touched the knob, opened it, and they went in together.
As soon as he passed the threshold, a heavy object came crashing down on his head.
Now, as he lay in a cold, dark place, he thought about it. Suddenly, he became aware that he was not alone; someone else was breathing nearby.
"Hello?" he said.
"Oh, Remus!" Gillian exclaimed from close by. "I was afraid they'd killed you."
"Who?" He sat up and tried to make his way to her.
"Voldemort's people."
"They ambushed us?" He encountered a wall of bars.
"They must have discovered that I wasn't working for them," she said.
"Say what?" He was quite puzzled.
"I told you and Jenny that I knew an agent who was working against Voldemort. The truth is, I am that agent. My job made it easy for me to make contact with them, to feed them carefully selected information." She sighed. "I hated it, every time. It – it was terrifying, really. I met many high-level people in Voldemort's organization. I never met him though – and am grateful for that." She shuddered, then continued. "I was hoping to get that information and get us out of there… I suppose I failed."
"How long have we been here?" Remus asked sharply. He remembered, suddenly, Jenny's scheduled execution.
"I don't know," Gillian said slowly. He could tell that she was hiding something.
"What is it?" he asked sharply.
"Remus - I don't know how long it's been, but it's been quite a time… I don't know if it's too late." She sounded sad. Remus closed his eyes.
"If it is, then there's nothing we can do. If it's not, we're running out of time. Let's try to figure out a way to get out of here." He pulled himself to his feet. "Any bright ideas?"
"No," she confessed. Remus heard her stand up. "How about you?"
"Not yet." He began to feel along the walls. "So, you're a double agent."
"Yes." He could hear her moving around. "I needed money, though. There was someone who promised to get me out of the country, find me a new identity… I was scared of what would happen to me if Voldemort's people found out the truth." She sighed. "Now they have, and I'm not that scared anymore."
"Good," Remus said. "There's no room for fear here. We've got a job and a deadline."
"I found the door to my cell," Gillian said. As she spoke, Remus felt the outline of a door as well.
"Me too," he said. He pushed it, not expecting it to open. It didn't.
"Locked, of course," Gillian said. She sighed.
"And without a wand, we can't unlock it." Remus kicked the door. It still didn't give.
"Shh- quiet!" Gillian hissed. A door had opened at the end of the dungeons, and someone was coming in, bearing a torch. It was a man; Remus had never seen him before. He stopped in front of Gillian's cell.
"Gillian - are you really on the other side?" He spoke sadly, and his tone showed disbelief. There was something else in his voice that Remus couldn't identify.
"Yes, I am, Steve." Her voice also held an odd note.
"I can't believe it!" He set the torch in a bracket on the wall. Remus saw the glint of keys on his belt, only a few feet away. If Gillian could distract him, I might be able to get them.
"Believe it," she said simply. "I would never really work for the man who killed my whole family." Her voice now held scorn.
"Gillian - I could get you out of there." Steve's voice was eager, and his face hopeful.
"And risk Voldemort's wrath?" Gillian laughed harshly. "Come on, Steve, we both know you'd never risk that."
"I would." He took the keys off his belt and held them up. "I'll get you out, we'll get out of here, go far away."
"Why would you do that for me?" Gillian asked. Remus just watched, hoping she had some sort of plan.
"Because I love you, Gillian." The torchlight shone on the man's face; his eyes were shining. "I've always loved you, for as long as I've known you."
Something odd twinged in Remus' stomach. Why did he suddenly want to crush this little man like a cockroach? Was he -jealous?
"You love me?" Gillian asked in a strangely strangled voice.
"I do." He held up the keys. "Just say you'll come with me, and I'll get you out of here."
She seemed to consider it. "Open the door, then, Steve." He nodded eagerly, then opened the gate. Remus wondered what Gillian was doing. Was she going to leave him here? Not likely, but...
Steve took Gillian's hand and led her from the cell. She turned to him and put her arms around him, and he kissed her. That meant he didn't see what Remus saw; Gillian held a lump of stone, probably fallen from the wall. She brought it up over Steve's head and hit him, hard. He slumped to the ground.
Gillian opened Remus' cell then bent down to feel Steve for a pulse.
"He's alive," she said slowly. "I wish I hadn't had to do that. Steve is a decent man."
"He's working for Voldemort!" Remus said incredulously. "A decent man?"
"You don't understand," she said, whirling fiercely. "He - his only sister is being held by Voldemort's lackeys. If he doesn't do as they say, they'll kill her. And he was willing to risk that, for me. Oh, I'm sorry." This last was addressed to the unconscious Steve. "Help me put him in that cell, Remus." Once he was in, she locked the cell and put the keys on a hook nearby. "Maybe he can convince them we overpowered him," she said miserably. "Come on, let's get out of here."
Jenny stared around the Minister's office. It reflected the man who occupied it; cluttered with papers in neat piles and files stacked in an orderly fashion, yet stacked everywhere, it spoke of both neatness and disorganization. The little Minister sat behind his desk and fidgeted with papers as Jenny stared at him. She was alone with him; hit wizards, however, waited just outside the door. The Minister smiled in a vague way.
"You wanted to see me?" Jenny asked.
"Ah, yes. I wished to speak to you about the, er, sentence on your head."
"What about it?" Jenny asked. She felt oddly calm considering her impending death. Perhaps it's because I've been almost killed so many times before.
"I might be able to, well, lighten it," Fudge said uncomfortably. "In exchange for whatever information you can give us…"
Jenny sighed. "First of all, I cannot give you any information because I am not working for Voldemort. Second, you're not offering this to Sirius, are you?"
"Of course not!" Fudge looked shocked. "Quite frankly, I'll have enough trouble getting you a lighter sentence. There are plenty of people who'd rather have you dead as well. And there is no way that we would risk having Sirius Black escape us again. No, no."
"Then there's no point in reducing my sentence." Jenny glared at him.
"Now, I don't think that's the attitude to have." Fudge fussed more with his papers. "After all, you'd hardly want your children to be orphans at their ages?"
"You and the rest of the Ministry are intent on making them such," Jenny said fiercely. She had absolutely no intention of telling Fudge why it was that she would die if Sirius did. "If you'd only listen!"
Fudge was staring at her. "Well, if that's the way…" he trailed off, looking uncomfortable. "Very well."
"Will you at least let me see Sirius?" Jenny asked, crossing her arms.
"No, that's not possible," Fudge said.
"What about Remus? Gillian?"
"Remus Lupin and Gillian Prewett have vanished." Fudge looked up. "No one knows where they are." He signaled for the hit wizards to come in, and they led Jenny away, her mind full of thoughts. What was Remus up to? Might he be meeting with Gillian's agent? Perhaps they'd be able to get proof in time. Not that there was much time left…
"I can't believe it." That was the only thing I could think to say. James and I sitting by ourselves in the Gryffindor common room. Other students left us alone, talking among themselves, mostly about the news that Sirius Black had been captured and was to be executed.
"How can they?" James asked fiercely, rubbing his eyes. My tears were drained for now. "How can they execute Mum and Dad? They didn't do anything!"
"Can't we do something?" I asked desperately, glancing around. Harry and his friends were talking among themselves quietly. Hermione glanced over at us once, but they didn't move toward us.
"What? We're twelve years old, miles and miles away – there's nothing we can do."
"We can't just give up!" I got to my feet, clenched my fists. "There must be something we can do."
"Need a hand?" I nearly jumped out of my skin. Fred and George Weasley were looking at us from over a chair. "We told you that if you ever needed us, we'd pitch in."
"Yes!" James said, glancing around to make sure no-one else could hear. "We need to get up to London, and fast. The execution's got to be stopped!"
"We thought you might say that," Fred grinned. "We've got something that could help."
"What?" I asked. I'd have jumped at any chance to save my parents right then.
"Come with us." Fred and George led us out of the Common Room, through darkening passages, and to a mirror on the fourth floor. George whispered something and stepped right through the glass. I stared.
"It's a passage," Fred explained as James stepped through. I followed suit.
"So we'll get off the grounds this way?" I asked.
"No," George said, picking up something from the floor. "It's caved in, no good as a tunnel, but it's a great place to hide stuff." He tossed aside the bundle he had been holding. "This is where we keep most of our – supplies," he said, grinning. "Ah, there it is." He hauled up a large roll of carpet.
"What is that?" I asked, staring at it.
"Flying carpet," Fred said proudly. "We enchanted it ourselves. Come on, we've got to get it up to the west tower – that should be deserted." He picked up one end and his brother took the other. Then we left the mirror and headed upward, through passages and staircases.
At the top of the tower, Fred dropped his end of the carpet and George unrolled the whole thing. I glanced up at the stars, which were shining bright. Oh, please, please, let us make it, I wished silently.
"Get on," George said, pushing us onto the rug. He and his brother stepped aboard too. "Now, up!" he yelled.
The rug leapt into the air. I shrieked.
"Thanks," James said gratefully.
"It'll just help even the score we owe Mr. Moony and Company," Fred said with a wave of his hand. "Besides, we've always wanted to help with a rescue, haven't we?"
"Absolutely," George agreed, grinning.
"What will we do once we've gotten them out of prison?" James asked.
"We'll take it one step at a time," Fred said. "The first thing to do is get to London before it's too late."
"What will happen if someone finds out we're gone, and tries to stop us?" I wondered.
"Well, we should get to London before dawn. That's good, we should be able to find them before everyone at the Ministry shows up."
"Hold on." I had just had a nasty thought. "Ok, there's four of us. Who knows how many guards will be around Mum and Dad? We don't know where they're being held… there could be Dementors around them!"
"What else can we do, Lily?" James asked wearily. "At least, the two of us have to try… Fred, George, you two should just take the carpet and try to get back before anyone notices you're helping us."
"No way," George said, grinning. "We're in this all the way."
"Yes we are. I can just imagine what Mum's going to say." Fred also grinned. "Bet we get a Howler for this one!"
And so we headed south, flying a moth-eaten carpet on a crazy attempt at heroics. I did my best not to think of all the ways we could fail.
"I know where we are!" Gillian said excitedly. She and Remus turned a corner, looking for a way out of the dark fortress where they had been held. "This is Voldemort's castle! We can find those papers I was telling you about!"
"Where?" Remus glanced at her. Gillian's face showed her excitement.
"This way!" She darted around a corner, Remus trailing her. The castle seemed deserted. About halfway down a corridor, Gillian stopped. "In here," she said. They pushed the door open together and looked in.
It was a room fitted out as a study, deserted except for a large cat snoozing in front of a fire. It glanced up idly at them and then turned its attention back to its paws. Remus and Gillian began going through files.
"Look," Remus called, opening a drawer. "Our wands!"
"Oh, good." Gillian caught her wand and stuck it in her belt. She brushed back her hair and began to go through files again. "We've got to hurry, or they'll execute Jenny."
"Gillian," Remus began, holding up a piece of parchment, "Look at this." He handed it to Gillian. She read it, her eyes widening slowly.
"This is perfect!" she yelped quietly. "Are there more?"
"A whole file on Sirius… and a smaller on Jenny. I think these are alphabetical… yes, here's me!"
"What about me? I'd like to know what they have to say."
"Gillian Prewett, right here." He pulled it out. It was much thinner than Sirius', but thicker than Jenny's. He looked at the first page. "Hmm, yes. It's got a description of you here – they don't mention that you're pretty, though – and notes about you working for them."
"No time to read that now," Gillian said, snatching it from Remus. She'd gone rather pink at Remus' words. "Let's go."
"I'm afraid that won't be possible," a cold voice said from behind them. They turned slowly. Lucius Malfoy had his wand pointed at them, smiling cruelly. "I'll just take those papers, and those wands," he began, walking toward them slowly. Behind him, the cat stretched and moved toward the door. Remus' brain frantically looked for a way out. Beside him, Gillian gave a sigh and handed Malfoy her papers.
"I always knew you weren't truly on our side," he said coldly. "The dark lord will reward me for this."
He stared at Remus and Gillian, who seemed preoccupied with something behind him. "What-?" he began, but was cut off by a blow to the head that crumpled him to the floor.
"Thanks," Remus said to Professor McGonagall, who put down the small lamp she had just hit Malfoy with. She gave him a rare smile.
"You're fortunate that I was here," she said. "Dumbledore asked me to try to find out what was going on in here… seems that most of his spies have been discovered." Her eyes flickered to Gillian. "Someone in your organization is leaking information."
"Can we get out of here?" Gillian asked, stooping and collecting the papers that Malfoy had dropped. "We have to hurry, Remus, we're running out of time."
McGonagall held up a hand to stop them. "Hold on a bit. From what you two were saying before, you were looking for information on Sirius Black? What's going on?"
"Sirius is innocent, Minerva," Remus said. "As are Jenny and I. These files prove it. But we've got to hurry or they'll execute Jenny… we may be too late, even now."
"You're not," McGonagall said, peering out the door to make sure everything was clear. "The Ministry caught Sirius too and they delayed the execution. There are about a thousand questions I want to ask, but I'll wait until we have everything under control." She hurried from the room, Remus and Gillian following closely. Halfway down the hall, she transformed and once more was the cat.
Professor Dumbledore had hurried down to London to witness the execution, as Fudge had requested. After spending an hour trying without success to convince Fudge not to execute Sirius and Jenny, he asked to meet with the condemned pair.
Jenny's eyes showed a quiet desperation, a resignation to her fate, yet a tiny hope that he might be able to do something. Sirius' face was impossible to read, but his voice held steady as he asked Dumbledore:
"Isn't there anything you can do, Professor?" Jenny's eyes added silent pleading, and Dumbledore wished that he had some other answer to give them.
"I'm afraid not," he said slowly. "Fudge refuses to listen to me, and we have no proof…" He bowed his head. Sirius nodded once.
"Will you make sure my –our – children are all right, Professor?" Jenny asked softly. She seemed to be trying not to cry. Sirius took her hand gently.
"Of course I will," Dumbledore assured them. "I assure you, they will be taken care of."
"Thank you," Sirius said, his voice empty of the laughter that had once filled it.
"I'm afraid there's not much longer," Dumbledore said. "Fudge will be here soon… would you like me to wait here, or leave you alone?"
Jenny began to weep silently.
"Alone, if you wouldn't mind," Sirius said firmly, staring at Dumbledore. Dumbledore nodded and left quietly.
"I'm just glad you're here with me," Jenny murmured. "I never wanted to die alone."
"Jenny," Sirius began, taking her other hand. "Just so you know, I have a lot of regrets. Marrying you is not one of them." He smiled.
"So this is the end," Jenny said, sniffing. "It's not how I imagined it at all."
"Never thought we'd be taken out by our own side, eh?" Sirius looked at her. "Well, there are worse fates."
"Yes," Jenny said. She wasn't scared to die anymore. They could both hear men talking outside the room now. Jenny squeezed Sirius' hands.
"Together, forever," he whispered.
"Forever, my love," she replied. She thought of so many things she'd like to say, but they were almost out of time. "I – I – "
"No regrets." He smiled at her. "Just happy memories, don't think about the bad ones." Jenny nodded and closed her eyes against tears.
There came a great clamor outside. Jenny opened her eyes and sat up straight, staring at the door.
A moment later, it burst open, and Remus hurried in. He wore an uncharacteristically large grin on his face.
"We did it!" he shouted, pulling Sirius and Jenny to their feet. "Gillian and I got the evidence – we had some help from McGonagall – and not even Snape can argue with it!"
"You mean –we're saved?" Sirius stared at him. "They- they know I'm innocent?"
"They know it," Remus confirmed. Jenny stared from one to the other, shocked, then began to laugh with relief.
"It's all over, then," she said happily. Sirius hugged her, then Remus. Gillian came in, followed by McGonagall. Jenny turned to Gillian.
"Thank you," she said, hugging Gillian, who smiled.
"I told you I'd do it," she said.
"I'm glad to hear that I was wrong about you, Sirius," McGonagall said, offering him her hand. He took it and grinned.
"Hey!"
"What's this?"
Shouts and loud noises were coming from the outer room, and the occupants of the inner hurried in.
"James! Lily!" Jenny screamed, seeing her children engaged in battle with several hit wizards.
"What on earth are they doing here?" McGonagall wondered, staring at the Weasley twins. "And how did they get here?"
"Don't ask," Remus advised her. She sighed and nodded.
"Hold it!" Sirius bellowed. Everyone froze and then turned to look at him. He grinned.
"Mum? Dad?" Lily hurried over. "What is going on? I thought they were going to – to – "
"Don't worry, dear," Jenny said, hugging her daughter. "It's fine now. We're free. All of us." She smiled happily at Sirius and her son, who were helping a hit wizard to his feet.
"Oh," George said, looking almost disappointed. "Then you don't need us."
"Hold it," McGonagall said. "I want a room where we can sort all this out. Minister," she
said, turning to Fudge, "Can you take us somewhere like that and leave us there?"
"Yes of course," he said, leading the way eagerly. Sirius stared after him in disgust.
"How on earth did you get someone like that for Minister?" he asked Jenny, raising his eyebrows.
"Don't blame me, I had nothing to do with it," she muttered back. "He is a bit of a bumbler." Sirius looked as if he were about to add more, but she gave him a warning glance and he subsided.
The room Fudge led them to had several couches and plenty of comfortable chairs. Sirius sank into one immediately, and Jenny perched on the arm, dangling her legs. Fred and George took up two couches, stretching out on their backs and pretending to go to sleep. James and Lily sat near their parents, McGonagall took the last chair, and Remus and Gillian sat together on the only piece of furniture left, a couch.
"Now," McGonagall said, "Let's see if we can't work out what's going on."
"Where should we start?" Sirius asked.
"The beginning," McGonagall stated dryly. "Which as far as I can see it is some thirteen years ago?"
"More, I'd say," Remus said, glancing at Sirius. "Maybe in our fifth year at Hogwarts, when Sirius and James and Peter became Animagi."
"Animagi?" she asked levelly. Sirius nodded.
"It was the only way we could be with Remus when he transformed," he said, as if this should have been obvious. "It took us a long time, of course, and Pettigrew would never have managed it without James and me." His face darkened with anger, and the expression spread to McGonagall's face as the story of Pettigrew's betrayal of the Potters unfolded.
"How could he?" she asked finally. "If I get my hands on him…"
"That line's pretty long," Remus said, leaning back and yawning. "Between Sirius, me, Jenny, Harry, and everyone else who's angry with him, he'll be buried in the thousand pieces that everyone thought Sirius blasted him into."
"I think I'd prefer just to see him in Azkaban," Sirius said darkly. "Let him see what it's like."
"Well, let's hear the rest of the story," McGonagall suggested. "How did you escape, and exactly what happened next?"
So Sirius continued, with occasional interruptions from the others in the room. When McGonagall heard from Fred and George, she actually smiled.
"I'm not sure whether to give you points or a detention," she said. "I think I'll let Dumbledore decide." Fred and George grinned.
"So now we can all go home," Remus said, smiling. "This whole thing is over."
"Not quite," a cold voice said from the door. They turned to see Elaida Malfoy standing there, a wand in her hand. "Expelliarmus!" she cried, and all the wands in the room flew from their owners. She held her wand steady and advanced.
"What are you planning?" Jenny asked, staring at her and standing up. "To kill us?"
"No," Elaida said, staring at her in return. "You're the only one I want dead here. I don't care about the others." She smiled coldly.
"So what are you going to do, kill me?" Jenny asked, not feeling frightened at all, perhaps because she'd escaped death so many times.
"I want to," Elaida whispered. "Oh, I want to… but I can't. So I've got a better plan." She smiled at James. "Why don't you go get your wand, boy?" James nodded and picked up his wand, then moved over to her. Jenny stared in horror at her son. His eyes had gone dead and cold and he seemed to be waiting for orders.
"Now," Elaida said, clearly enjoying this, "You see, Jenny, he's under my spell. There's nothing you can do about it."
From behind her, Sirius growled and tried to lunge at her, but couldn't. She smiled again. "An elementary spell… Jenny, you and I and your son are the only ones in this room who can move. And you can't escape."
"James!" Jenny said sharply. "Listen to me. Drop that wand." He didn't do anything.
"Why don't you go ahead and kill her, James?" Elaida said, smiling still. James lowered the wand at Jenny's heart.
"No!" Lily yelled. She pulled herself from her chair slowly, as if struggling against bonds. "James, don't!" She managed to make her way halfway to her brother, tears streaming down her face. "Please, James, don't."
"Kill your sister first, then!" Elaida hissed at James. Like a robot, he turned.
"No, James, listen to me," Lily pleaded. "It's me, James! She's the bad one, she's the one who is your enemy. Please hear me, James. Please." She sobbed a little more as James took a step forward, lowered his wand, raised it partway, and lowered it again.
"Kill her!" Elaida yelled. "I order you to kill her!"
"James, please, fight her," Lily sobbed. "Throw away the wand, James. Throw it away."
He lowered it at her. Elaida smiled coldly and laughed, a short, cold laugh.
"So much for love doing anything," she sneered.
Then suddenly, James threw his wand across the room and collapsed to the floor. A cloud of smoke filled the room. Jenny began to cough, but hurried over to her children as best she could.
Both were alive; James had lost consciousness, and Lily was not much better. A hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up fast, but it was only Sirius.
"The spell vanished as soon as James threw away the wand," he said. "McGonagall caught Elaida."
"Good," Jenny said. "Here, we should get the children out of here."
"Right," Sirius said, lifting James easily. Jenny began to hoist Lily to her shoulders, and Gillian came over to give her a hand.
"We'll let Fudge and Dumbledore deal with her," McGonagall said, looking with distaste at Elaida, who had been petrified temporarily. Jenny couldn't help but give a little smile.
"What happens now?" Fred asked.
"You two go get that flying contraption of yours and get back to Hogwarts. If you're there when I get back, we'll forget about any detentions." McGonagall glared at them and the Weasleys gulped and ran off. "Looks like some of you may need medical treatment, though," she said, looking particularly at the twins, but also at Jenny, who looked rather pale.
"I'm fine," she assured her. "Just a bit tired, of course. Nothing a day or two of rest won't cure."
"You all need that," McGonagall said, glancing from one to the next in turn. "And I need to get back to Hogwarts before the Weasley twins arrive and blow it up in my absence." She sighed.
"What about us?" Lily asked weakly.
"Your mother can decide when –and if – you two come back to school," McGonagall said. "I'm sure you'll need time to recover." She turned and left. A moment later, Dumbledore appeared, the twinkle once more in his eye.
"I've sorted almost everything out with Fudge," he said, smiling. "Now I want to hear your story." He glanced at Elaida Malfoy. "All of it. But not this minute; it looks like those children need to be taken care of." He waved his wand and conjured up a pair of stretchers for the twins. Jenny and Sirius both looked worriedly at James.
"What happened to him?" Jenny wondered. "Elaida had some spell on him… how?"
"In the castle, she tried to convince us both to help her," Lily said sleepily. "She was using some magic… after a while she sent me away, but maybe she kept James there and worked on him more."
"Tell me what happened," Dumbledore said, examining James. After they were done, he straightened up and gave a reassuring smile.
"I think he'll be all right. Whatever charm she put on him is broken. I'm sure you'll want a healer to examine him, of course, but don't worry."
"Oh, thank goodness," Jenny said weakly. "I didn't know what she might have done." Her face darkened momentarily as she thought of Elaida.
"I'll take these two off to see the Healer – Fudge brought one in," Dumbledore said, smiling. "You four can sort out anything you have left." He led the twins off. Neither of them made so much as a murmur of protest.
"I think we've cleared up just about everything," Remus said, relaxing. "For the first time in – however long it's been – we can all sleep soundly."
"I'll see that you get the money as soon as possible," Sirius promised Gillian.
"Oh, no," she said, blushing. "I'm not going to need it anymore. No need for me to leave the country – I think I'll stay."
"Well, we expect you to at least come visit us," Jenny said sternly. "You can't do all this for us and not be a friend."
"I think I'd like that," Gillian said, not-quite glancing at Remus, who was also not quite looking at her.
"And that's everything," Sirius said. "I hope. We can have Harry come and stay with us for holidays now, right?" Jenny nodded.
"Of course."
"So everything seems all right now." Sirius grinned.
"Well, there is one other thing," Jenny said, dropping her eyes and trying to hide a smile. "I – er – haven't had a chance to mention it before, Sirius, but I – I'm pregnant."
You could have heard a pin drop in the silence that followed. It lasted about three seconds.
"You what?" Sirius asked, staring.
Remus laughed, long and well, at the expression on his friend's face.
"So it's a very good thing your name is clear now," Jenny continued, "because I raised the twins alone, and I am not doing that again. You can get up in the middle of the night now and then."
Now Gillian laughed. "You tell him, Jenny," she said. "I think we can go now."
"Good." Sirius stood up. "Let's go and get something to eat. Then, after that, I'll think about what you said, Jenny. That was a bit of a surprise."
Jenny muttered something under her breath.
"What was that?" Sirius asked suspiciously.
"Nothing. Let's go to Florean Fortescue's."
"I thought we wanted dinner," Remus pointed out. "Not ice cream."
"I want a strawberry-peanut butter sundae," Jenny said firmly. " With caramel sauce and every flavor beans. And malt powder."
"That is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard," Sirius said flatly. "What makes you think they'll even fix that? And what makes you think you could eat that without getting sick?"
"I'm pregnant, I can eat what I want, and that's what I want." Jenny grinned at him. "Besides, it's not that weird."
"Gillian, are you coming?" Remus asked. Gillian looked at the others.
"Well, I don't know," she said. "After all, I'm sure you three want to talk…"
"Nonsense," Jenny said, taking Gillian's hand. "After all you've done for us! Come on, let's go."
Gillian smiled, and together, the four walked from the room.
The end, the end, the end! I'm so impressed with myself! That was an absolutely enormous story – longer than my "Lisa Goes to Hogwarts" epic. And no, I can't give you a wordcount, because I lost track and can't be bothered to go back and do it again. Thank you to everyone who stuck with this monster – most especially Blaise, who had no idea when she agreed to beta 'a short piece about James and Lily at Hogwarts' what it would become. I've been writing this piece since the middle of March, can you believe that? Thanks for your patience and encouragement, and especial thanks to you LIR members who make this writing thing worthwhile. Kudos to CLS for figuring out that Jenny was pregnant when even I wasn't too sure, and more thank yous to the Musketeers for being sounding boards and beta readers now and then. There, now I can stop annoying you about this story!
The disclaimer is the same as it has been for the rest of this series. If you don't know it by now, you have the intelligence of a rock and belong in the LSR.
Good day, all – it's been real.
Katie Bell