Chapter Two: In a Room with the Arch of Death
On the day of Sirius's memorial service, Remus had the task of collecting Harry from the Dursleys', while the others went ahead to the Death Chamber to take care of the last-minute details, such as setting out the food and arranging the flowers.
Remus landed in the Dursleys' back yard at five minutes to eleven; he didn't own a broom of his own, so he was riding one of Sirius's old ones, a Hairsplitter 900 that his parents had given him for his thirteenth birthday. He waited for almost two minutes, at the end of which one of the upper windows opened and Harry poked his head out, clearly looking for Remus, who was indistinguishable from the grass below him due to a Disillusionment Charm. Remus floated up so he was level with Harry and said quietly, "I'm right here, Harry. What's the matter, have the Dursleys locked you in?"
"Well, yes," Harry said, "but that's not the problem. You see, I'm not quite sure what I ought to wear. All I have are Muggle clothes and my Hogwarts robes – oh, and I nearly forgot, I have a set of dress robes. D'you think that'll be okay?"
Remus approved the dress robes, and Harry slipped them on over his jeans and T-shirt while Remus blasted open the window so Harry could fly out.
"Don't worry," he told Harry. "I'll think of something really horrible to scare the Dursleys into behaving when we come back."
"Sirius would've turned them into a tea service, wouldn't he?" Harry said sadly.
"Only if your dad hadn't already," Remus reassured him.
The journey into London was uneventful, and Remus and Harry arrived fifteen minutes early in the Death Chamber, which was packed with witches and wizards Sirius had known, and which smelled strongly of flowers.
Almost immediately Harry was accosted by Hermione, who was wearing a dress made of what looked like blue cotton candy. She was surrounded by all nine Weasleys, including an antsy-looking Percy and Ron, who looked supremely self-conscious in his new dress robes. Remus, wishing to avoid the press of Weasleys, left Harry with them and edged along the wall. Unluckily, the first person he met was Severus Snape.
"Hello, Remus," said Snape, unable to entirely suppress the smile that threatened his dour face. Predictably, Snape was delighted to see Sirius dead, even though the lack of a body meant he could never actually, physically see Sirius dead. Of course Snape did not allow such a detail to diminish his joy in the slightest.
"Severus," said Remus. "Enjoying yourself?"
"This is the best day of my life," he said in a raspy whisper. Given what Remus knew about his life at Hogwarts and after, he was likely not exaggerating. "Two down and two to go," he added in a nasty voice.
"Speaking of which," Remus said, "have you seen Peter recently?"
"Peter?" said Snape, his eyebrows rising. "Pettigrew, the silent one? The treacherous bastard? That Peter?"
"The very same," Remus said. "Has he been at meetings?"
"How should I know?" Snape said. "In case you didn't know, Loony, we all wear masks at these meetings. You know, those bits of cloth that cover our faces."
"That's lucky," Remus said absently. "I don't imagine you lot are very attractive, if your leader's any indication."
"You think you're funny, don't you, Loony," hissed Snape.
"Of course I do," Remus said. "But when you raise your hands to vote or ask permission to speak or whatever, have you noticed any silver ones?"
"No," Snape snarled, "I have not."
"Oh," Remus said. "Well, thanks all the same." He slid past Snape, who was still glaring at him, and continued around the periphery of the room to where Dumbledore was standing, twisting his hands.
"How're things?" Remus said, causing Dumbledore to jump.
"I'm a bit nervous," he confessed. "I wish I hadn't volunteered to start the service off. I get so nervous when I have to talk in front of people."
"Really?" Remus said. "I've found it helps if you picture the audience in their underwear."
"I'm afraid that doesn't help me," Dumbledore said. "I have a rather vivid imagination. Come, it's nearly time, and we've saved you a seat in the front row."
Remus took his seat in the front as Dumbledore mounted the dais, drawing his wand from his sleeve in order to cast the Amplification Charm on himself.
"Ah, yes, here we are. Ahem, welcome everyone, if you could please make your way to your seats – yes, thank you. First of all, I would like to thank all of you for coming today to honor the memory of Sirius Black. I have known Mr. Black since he was eleven years old, and I think I am correct in saying that he would be extremely disappointed to miss an occasion such as this, when all his dearest friends are gathered together in order to say wonderful things about him and eat banana cake, which he always loved for some reason. And now, I give you Remus Lupin, one of Sirius's old friends, to tell us a little more about him."
Remus ascended the dais and quickly cast his own charm, realizing that there were really an awful lot of people there and they were all staring at him.
"I met Sirius Black on the train to Hogwarts our first year," Remus began. "He told me that my robes looked as though I had pulled them off a corpse, and from that day we were fast friends.
"Sirius always had the courage to do the sort of things that never occur to normal people because they're so ridiculous. I remember one time in our third year when he turned the floor of the Great Hall invisible right in the middle of breakfast."
"I always wondered who did that," said Dumbledore, who had forgotten to remove his Amplification Charm.
"Not only that, but Sirius was about twice as intelligent as the average Hogwarts student. I never saw him crack a book, but he always beat me on tests, which is awfully unfair but there you are. He and James also became the youngest Animagi in a century with no outside help. Sirius could always make me smile, even if he'd just destroyed my last pair of socks, and he was so charming that he could always get me to do whatever he wanted despite my better judgment. Sirius was a wonderful friend, and I wish he could be here so I could tell him just how grateful I am for every way he made my life happier.
"Thank you very much."
Remus stepped off the dais to wild applause, feeling, in some ridiculous way, that Sirius had heard every word and was currently trying to stop himself from grinning too much.
Remus's speech was followed by several others, and then they all came up one by one to stand ten paces in front of the veil and use Banishing Charms to send something through the veil for Sirius. Dumbledore sent a single phoenix feather. Remus sent Sirius's half of the two-way mirror. Hermione sent a picture of Harry that she had cut out of the Daily Prophet. Harry ran back to his broom and clipped a twig from it to send. Snape, smirking, pulled out a hank of his own hair to send, and Remus imagined that among the whispers coming from the arch, he heard a groan of frustration.
Finally the ceremony was finished and everyone descended on the tables ranged along the wall, which were loaded with food. Remus was hungry, not having had lunch, so he filled a plate and sat down to eat on one of the wide stone steps, where he was shortly joined by none other than Hermione Granger.
She was, of course, brilliant. Hers were the only essays that had been embarrassing to read because of her prodigious knowledge of things he'd learned and forgotten half a lifetime ago. He had even heard rumors that she would be offered a professorship at Hogwarts at the end of her seventh year, though becoming a Hogwarts professor at such a young age was virtually unheard of. However, it was impossible to deny that Hermione could be a bit overbearing at times; last summer she had buttonholed him at number twelve to make her pitch for house-elf liberation, and Remus fully expected a repeat of that scene. Nevertheless he smiled at her as she sat down and smoothed her skirt.
"Hello, Professor Lupin," she said. "There's something I need you to tell me."
Remus was so staggered that he forgot to remind her he had quit teaching at Hogwarts two years ago. Hermione Granger was actually coming to him for information. Remus realized vaguely that he was assisting at a historical moment.
"You mean there's something I know that you don't?"
"Lots of things," Hermione corrected him, frowning. "Like what Sirius was like when you two were at Hogwarts."
Here was a dilemma. Had Harry told her about the incident in the Pensieve? Remus didn't dare ask in case he hadn't. And in either case, it was one of the last topics he would have expected to interest Hermione.
"Why d'you ask?" he said.
"Oh, I was just curious if all of what you said was true," Hermione said. "Did Sirius really say that about your robes?"
"Oh yes," Remus said. "Then I told him he was a pretentious little twerp, which wasn't that far off. After all, you couldn't spend eleven years in a family like his without thinking you were made of something better than flesh and bone."
"Then why didn't he look down on you for being a werewolf?"
"He thought it was cool," Remus said. "They all did. What twelve-year-old boy wouldn't want to turn into a ravening monster once a month?"
"Was it Sirius's idea for them to become Animagi?"
"You know, I really can't remember," Remus said. "He and James thought so much alike that we suspected they had each gotten one half of the same brain. At least, that's what I always said."
"But they were really smart, weren't they?" Hermione said.
"They were brilliant," Remus said. "It was like a law of nature. If Sirius and James didn't ace a test, then there had to be a mistake in one of the questions."
"Then if they were so smart, why did they do so many stupid things?"
"Intelligent isn't the same as sensible, Hermione," he said. "Sirius and James loved danger, which I suspect was one of the reasons they hung out with me. The prospect of getting caught never stopped them, it just made whatever they were doing that much more exciting."
"And what about you?" Hermione said.
"Me? Oh, I was perfect. I did my homework and made my bed and let them do whatever they damn well pleased."
"It can't have been easy, finding out Sirius was innocent," Hermione said quietly.
"It wasn't," Remus said. "I didn't sleep for a week."
"Did you hear from Sirius much when he was in hiding?"
"Not much. He wrote more to Harry than he did to me. But I shouldn't be surprised, he always liked James better than me, and I think sometimes he got Harry mixed up with James…" He sighed and said, "Forgive me, I've been babbling."
"No, don't apologize, you've been very helpful," Hermione said brightly. "Oh look, there's Ginny, I really should go talk to her."
"Before you go –"
She looked at him inquiringly.
"I never thanked you for keeping my secret your third year."
"You shouldn't," Hermione said, "because I didn't do it out of the goodness of my heart. I just didn't want to be stuck with another incompetent Defense teacher." She smiled cryptically and left.
Remus began eating his mashed potatoes, which were already cold, and as he did so he realized that he really had no idea what he'd said that Hermione might find helpful. But he comforted himself with the knowledge that whatever Hermione had planned was doubtless perfectly legal.
When Remus was finished eating, he got up and wandered around the room in search of Harry, whom he found talking to Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Look what Kingsley gave me," Harry said as Remus approached; he displayed a sheaf of pictures all featuring Sirius.
"Well, it's not like I had any more use for them," Kingsley said lightly.
"Have you found anything?" Remus asked him.
"No, not yet," Kingsley said. "I would've told you if I had. Oh, there's Alastor, excuse me, gentlemen."
Kingsley strolled off and Remus looked at Harry.
"About ready to leave?" Remus said.
"What, already?"
"Oh, not for the Dursleys'," he said. "We're going back to number twelve first."
After they had said their protracted goodbyes, Remus and Harry retrieved their broomsticks and went up to the roof, where protective charms had been placed so broom travelers could take off and land unnoticed. They were just getting on their brooms when an owl swooped down and landed on Remus's arm, bearing a scroll in its beak. Remus removed the scroll and inspected its seal as the owl flew off. He recognized it as the Malfoy family crest. The letter inside was short and direct.
Mr. Lupin:
I was sorry to hear of my cousin Sirius Black's recent demise. He was the last direct descendent of the Black line and as such inherited the Blacks' ancestral home at 12 Grimmauld Place, London. As one of Sirius's closest living relatives, I consider myself entitled to inherit the house; however, my attempts to visit the house in person and through the Floo network have failed. You were one of Sirius's closest friends; if he has willed the house to you or another of your acquaintances, as I do not doubt he has, be advised that I intend to assert my right to inherit, and I have a team of excellent lawyers.
Signed, Narcissa Black MalfoyRemus lowered the scroll and caught Harry giving him an inquiring look.
"Just one more thing to take care of," Remus said lightly, pocketing the scroll.
"What do the Malfoys want with you?" Harry said.
"Later," Remus said firmly.
Harry nodded, and they both mounted their brooms for the return journey.
When they arrived at number twelve, Remus led the way into the kitchen, chucking the broom into a corner and going straight for the pantry.
"Butterbeer, Harry?" he said over his shoulder.
"Yes please," Harry said, sitting down at the long table. Remus joined him, bringing a butterbeer for Harry and an evil-smelling glass of firewhisky for himself.
"Do you think Sirius got everything we sent him?" Harry said, looking at Remus over his bottle.
"I don't know what happens on the other side of that veil any more than you do," Remus said. "But I do believe he got everything we gave him."
There were a few other issues he needed to discuss with Harry, one of which was his guardianship now that Sirius was gone. They agreed that Dumbledore would be Harry's guardian, providing he agreed, and they would get a court date before the Wizengamot later in the summer to present their case.
Then Remus told Harry about finding Sirius's diary.
"Can I talk to Sirius?" asked Harry at once. "Do you have it here?"
"Not so fast, Harry, Albus told me that it'd be dangerous to write too much in that diary."
"Did he tell you why?" Harry said.
"Not exactly," Remus said. "Why, do you know something about it?"
"Tom Riddle had one like it," Harry said. "He used it to possess Ginny Weasley my second year, but she'd been writing in it for nearly a year. And besides, Sirius wouldn't possess either of us, would he?"
"No," Remus said slowly. "I don't believe he'd possess us."
"So can I talk to him?"
"All right," Remus said. "I'll get you the diary, but don't talk more than half an hour or so."
He went up to Sirius's old room and brought Harry the diary and quill and ink, and while Harry scribbled, Remus sipped slowly at his drink and reread Narcissa's note with a frown on his face.
At last Harry, looking considerably happier, set the diary aside and took a draft from his bottle. "What's that about?" he asked, indicating the note.
Remus let go of the parchment and it sprang back into a roll. "Mrs. Malfoy is going to contest Dumbledore's claim to this house," he said, rubbing his eyes and taking another drink.
"Does she have a chance of getting it?"
"I don't know," Remus said. "But as long as he keeps his secret, she won't be able to get in anyway." After a pause he said, "So what did Sirius know?"
"Not a whole lot," Harry said. "He said he didn't remember anything that happened after he fell through the veil, which I guess makes sense because he is a memory and you can't remember anything after you're dead. And he said if I had any girl troubles, I should ask you, but I think he was joking. Sorry," he added quickly.
"Oh, I'm not offended," Remus said. "He knew what I was like with girls."
"What?" Harry wanted to know.
"Horrible. I was so afraid one of them would find out that I didn't give them a chance. I'm sure you'll find this hard to believe," he said with a touch of bitterness, "but I didn't get my first kiss until I was seventeen."
"Really?" Harry said.
"Yeah, and that was during a game of Truth or Dare. Your father and Sirius teased me about that for years."
"Why, who was it?"
"I'd rather not say. It was pretty bad."
"Try me," Harry said.
"Oh, all right, it was Peter."
"Pettigrew?"
"Yep."
"You're right," Harry said, "that is pretty bad."
"Somehow," Remus said, "I doubt you'll have that problem."
Harry's face turned an unusual shade of red. "No, I won't," he said.
"Anyone I know?"
"Cho Chang, but it didn't work out," he said. "She was more interested in crying on my shoulder than anything."
Remus made a sympathetic face. "Still, at least she's a girl," he said.
"Yeah," Harry said fervently.
They were quiet for a minute, then Remus said, "I hate changing the subject, but do you know if Hermione has any plans about Sirius?"
"Sirius?" said Harry, frowning.
"Yes – well, today she was asking me what Sirius was like at Hogwarts. She said she was just curious, but somehow I didn't quite believe her."
"I don't know why she would," Harry said. "She told us this past year she thought Sirius was acting reckless and giving me bad advice and stuff like that."
Remus made an indeterminate noise.
"Do you think Sirius was acting differently last year?" Harry said, looking intently at Remus.
"I'm not the one to ask, Harry," said Remus. "That night in the Shrieking Shack was the only time I saw him before he showed up on my doorstep the day after you got out of the maze. And of course there's no way of knowing how Azkaban affected him. He certainly didn't talk about it with me."
Harry drank the last of his butterbeer and then asked, "Do you trust Sirius?"
"I'm not going to pretend he hasn't done things that aren't exactly honorable," Remus said, "but I would still do anything for him."
"That's noble of you," Harry said quietly.
"Not entirely," Remus said. "Wait here, there's something I want to give you before you go."
He left the room and returned a few minutes later with two mirrors. He handed Harry the pocket-sized one and put the other, an adjustable makeup mirror, on the table.
"I've enchanted these the same way your father and Sirius did the other two, so you can talk to me without having to worry about being intercepted."
Harry pocketed his mirror and grinned at Remus. "You know what, I think you're going to be my best father figure yet."
* * *
Interesting Note: When I was poking around in the dictionary, I found a possible source for the word "Wizengamot." Apparently, a witenagemot was an Anglo-Saxon national assembly that met to advise the king, and I think it's likely that JKR adapted the word for her own purposes. Even if she didn't, it's still kind of cool.
Boring Note: I write because it makes me happy; I post in hopes of making you happy. Please let me know if I am passing or failing.
^^^
