Grey was a little surprised.
He remembered the battle, remembered Voldemort lining his wand up on Willow, and distinctly remembered the green-on-blue flash of blocking the spell. Then nothing but the empty passage of time.
Until now.
But this didn't make any sense either. He hadn't been to Boston in years, and when he had gone, it had been for his Aunt Lucy's funeral. He certainly hadn't been here, sitting on a bench on the Common. Plus, it had been summer, and from the chill in the air and bits of snow scattered around, this most definitely was early spring.
He brushed his hand against his leg; the dark blue jeans felt real enough, but his lightsaber was missing.
"Fantastic," he said aloud sarcastically, even though the chances of evil attacking him in public in the middle of the day were slim. His voice had a strange echoey quality to it.
Glancing around to see if anyone had heard him, he realized he was alone. Completely alone. No rollerbladers traversing the paths, no homeless people stretched out on the benches, no cops eagerly ticketing parked cars.
No cars at all, for that matter.
The lack of ambient sound was so creepy that he began to hum, just to hear something other than his thoughts.
"Yer not much with the music, are yeh? No tune at all ta yer hummin'. Can't say I'm surprised, though - ain't got much o' that in yer family."
The voice, a nasally rasp of country English, came from behind Grey. He stood and spun around, startled by the sudden sound. A man about his own height stood in a spot that had been empty seconds before, dressed in a ratty blue dress robe. The man's jowly face and slightly squashed nose were framed by an unruly mop of black hair. A lightsaber swung from his side, looped into a brown leather holster that cut across his chest.
"Do I know you?" The man gave off a strange vibe of familiarity, but Grey couldn't place him.
"Nope. Never did meet me. Yeh know my son, though." He let out an off-kilter cackle at his statement, the harsh sound rattling through the empty air. "Oh c'mon, sonny, let yer guard down a bit. I'm not here ta hurt ya, and if I was, what could yeh really do?"
Grey looked down. He had automatically shifted into a combat stance, but he was completely unarmed. The lightsaber would carve him up before he got close.
"So what do you want?" he asked, conceding nothing.
"Rebellious. That's good. Yeh need that." The small man suddenly walked in a circle around Grey, still keeping a good ten feet between them while looking him over. "Need the fightin', too. Did a good job with that, yer aunt did."
"How do you know about my aunt?"
"I should. She was my bleedin' daughter." He smiled, showing crooked teeth.
Stunned speechless, Grey froze.
"Oh c'mon, it's not that surprisin', is it? They al'ays send family to do these pickups."
"P-pickups?"
"Yeah, a'course. Yeh think Voldemort hits yeh with the killin' curse and yeh live through it?"
"And you're my … my grandfather?"
"Yep. Name's Ed, but I guess grandpa would do me right." He showed the teeth again. "And if yer wonderin', yeh hafta come with me. Yeh did the noble thing, which yeh were meant ta do, and now yeh take yer leave." The smile disappeared, and he looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry about tha', but the Powers That Be make the rules. Me an' Lucy, we're right proud of what yeh did. Robert will be, when he hears, and yer mother as well."
"But yeh hafta come now. The alternative's not fer you, 'cuz a how yeh died. An' yeh wouldn't want it if yeh could. So yer on yer way up. That's the rules."
"Then we're changing the rules," said an Irish voice behind them. Grey caught a small flash of another smile on his grandfather's face before he whirled around.
Jess' auror's cloak billowed out around her. She brandished her wand like a sword, pointing it at Grey's grandfather menacingly. Her jade eyes sparkled with grim determination, framed by her thick mane of jet black hair.
Grey breathed a long sigh of relief. THIS was Jess. The real thing. And she had his back. Thank you, Willow and Tara, he thought silently.
"Yer tha' O'Brien girl. I've heard o'yeh," Ed said, his volume normal but his voice somehow audible to her twenty feet away. Grey took the opportunity to step out of her line of fire. "Put the wand down, girl. No knockdown bouts here; the Powers don't like it, an' I'm not yer enemy."
"I won't let you take him," she said forcefully.
"Fact is, that's a misnomer. S'not takin'. Never. S'always a choice, jus' not usually two options this good. Did the Merlin's Salve after all, didn'tcha?" She nodded. "Good work, tha'. It's a tough one, I've heard. Had a friend … eh, but you don't need ta be hearin' tall tales from a dead auror, do yeh?"
"I don't think we've much time."
"No, yeh don't." He turned to his grandson. "So, now yeh've got a choice. Stay or go."
"Obviously, I'm …"
"Hol' on, I wasn't done. Yeh did righ' by all of 'em, the girl here and the redhead back home, an' the Potter boy as well. An' the Powers, they're impressed. So I won't get in much trouble by tellin' yeh some things, and what trouble I get in," he grinned mischievously, "I ken handle. Things I haveta say might change yer mind."
"What things?" Grey asked nervously. Jess moved up to stand next to him, and he caught a pleasant whiff of vanilla.
"Yeh'll hafta 'scuse my cryptic mumbo-jumbo, but s'all I can do without pissin' the Powers off." They nodded. "If yeh go back, yeh'll be in trouble from the get go. Big rifts are brewin' all over tha place, an' danger's are risin' that yeh can't handle. No matter what ya do, yeh won't be the one ta tip the balance, yeh understand? Yeh don't have the power. So yeh can come with me now, an' it'll save yeh seein' some nasty business." His eyes looked sympathetically on his grandson. "It'll save yeh a lot of pain."
Grey looked at Jess, who wore an impassive face frighteningly similar to his own. On her, though, he had no trouble seeing the tiny hints of suffering leaking through. If he left her now … He thought of Willow, how she looked and felt and laughed. How she could be serious about the most inane things, or calm his crazy fears with her huge smile. How he had never said the words to her that she needed to hear. And he chose.
He reached out and tentatively touched Jess' shoulder.
"You came for me."
"I did. After you came for me."
"Be a shame if I left now, after all that."
"Sure and it would," she said with a half-smile, half-sob. She threw her arms around him and they hugged each other fiercely.
After holding her for thirty seconds, he turned back to his grandfather.
"I have to try and help. Even if I can't, I have to try."
"I 'spect nothin' less," his grandfather said with pride. "Had ta offer, though."
"I know."
"Yeh should be on yer way, then."
"It was … it was nice to meet you," he said to his grandfather, offering his hand.
"I would shake it, but if yeh touch me yeh can't leave," he said. Grey pulled back sharply. "Yeh won't remember too much o' the prophecy part, just the vague notion that bad things're on their way. Ta keep yeh prepared, yeh see. Do me one favor, would yeh?"
"What's that?"
"Tell my hard-headed son that I was wrong abou' yer mum. The two of 'em did jus' fine."
Tears leaked from Grey's eyes as he nodded. Jess gave him a comforting squeeze.
"Now be gone with yeh, before I get all teary, too," his grandfather said.
And they were gone.
From behind a tree, a tall brunette glided over to stand beside Ed.
"That was a bit much, don't you agree?"
"Wha'? Tha bit abou' not havin' the power? Had ta be done." A scowl darkened his face. "I don' like it none, but you were there. You heard those bastards say wha' would happen if he doesn't do it. It's extortion, s'what it is, but the Powers get what they bleedin' want, don' they, Luce?"
"Yes, dad, they do. But … if he can't …"
He looked at her sadly.
"We'll haveta wait an' see, luv. We'll haveta wait an' see."
Jess' eyes shot open. She was still in the infirmary, seated in the sacred circle; Dumbledore and Willow each had a bed, as did Ginny. Tara, Giles, Wesley, and Hermione were watching her closely.
"D-d-did it work?" Tara asked.
Jess blinked her eyes clear and nodded. "I think so. I think …"
At that moment, Grey moaned and opened one eye on the assembled group.
"Hey, everyone," he mumbled. "S'a party…"
He drifted back off to sleep, but Jess smiled at the others. As usual, Hermione asked the question before anyone else.
"Is it over?"
Jess met her eyes.
"It's over, hon. It's over.