Chapter 8: Guard duty

After leaving the Ministry of Magic, Mira and Remus headed over to the Leaky Cauldron for a quiet lunch, where they reminisced with Tom the barman about the times when Mira, Lily and James, Sirius, Remus and Peter used to go and get trunk there post-Hogwarts, before heading back to Grimmauld Place.

When they arrived back at Grimmauld Place, they immediately went down into the kitchen. In the kitchen were all the Weasleys Mira had met, minus Arthur, who was still at work, and Charlie, who went back to Romania that day; and Hermione was there, too.

"How was your day, dear? Would you like something to eat?"

"Oh, no, thank you, Molly. Remus and I went to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch today."

"The Leaky Cauldron?" said Fred.

"Why didn't you come and visit us?" said George.

"We didn't go into Diagon Alley," replied Mira. "I'd rather wait until Harry arrives before I do."

"And speaking of Harry," said Remus, "You and I have guard duty tomorrow afternoon."

Guard duty. A knot twisted in Mira's stomach. So this will be the first time she sees her best friend's son since he was a baby. What was he going to look like? Who was he going to look like? In all the years that Mira spent abroad, she always asked that anyone in contact with Harry not to tell him about her and not to tell her what he looked like. The only thing she knew about his appearance was the lightning-bolt scar that Voldemort gave him. It was rather silly, she knew, but she wanted to see him for herself. She also, as much as she dreaded the thought, wanted to talk to him herself. To tell him who she was, her relationship with Lily, with James and Sirius. With Remus. It was almost like he was her son that she had to adopt out and she wanted, when she met him, to tell him why she had to give him up. Why she had to leave.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow she would get to see him for herself. But she would not get to speak to him. It was against the rules of guard duty to talk to, or make contact with, Harry unless it was an emergency. The only person allowed to talk to him was Arabella Figg. Oh, how she envied Mrs Figg. And yet she was glad she would get the opportunity to observe Harry without making contact with him. She would be able to observe his mannerisms and personality without needing to explain who she was and where she'd been.

"Mira. Mira. wake up." Mira was snapped back to the present by the sound of Remus' voice.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I was a million miles away."

"We noticed that," smiled Remus.

"Look, I'm sorry, but I'm really exhausted. I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Without any dinner? But it's almost ready!" exclaimed Molly.

"I'm not really hungry." And she wasn't. She also was rather tired, but the main reason she really wanted to leave was to be alone with her thoughts.

She bade everyone goodnight and made her way upstairs to her room. As she changed and climbed into bed, she wondered what Harry looked like. She'd been thinking of this a lot through the years, but never as much as that night. Would his hair be black or red? Would he have James' blue eyes or Lily's green? Whose nose would he have? She knew that he would be good- looking, as both his parents were, and he wasn't an ugly baby. As a baby the colour of his hair and eyes were indefinable. His hair was dark brown and his eyes were sometimes blue and sometimes green.

Her thoughts soon drifted from Harry to Remus. She needed to talk to him some time and definitely before Harry arrived. She hoped she could talk to him over the next few days, and he didn't seem to have many plans. Maybe Dumbledore didn't plan any work for him, anticipating her arrival and knowing that she, Mira, needed to talk to Remus. With these thoughts flowing in her mind, she drifted off into an uneasy sleep.

When Mira awoke the next morning, the knot in her stomach had become tenser than it was the previous day. She got out of bed, dressed and went downstairs into the kitchen. Arthur, Bill, Tonks and Moody had already left for work and the twins had gone to Diagon Alley. In the kitchen were Molly, Remus and Harry's friends Ron, Hermione and Ginny.

"Good morning, dear. Sleep well?" asked Molly. Mira grunted and sat down next to Remus.

"I think we'll take that as a 'no'," said Remus, suppressing a smile. "Nervous?"

Mira glared at Remus. How could he know? They never really spoke much about Harry.

"Why should you be so nervous?" asked Hermione.

"Mira and I have guard duty today," said Remus. "She hasn't seen so much as a muggle photograph of Harry in 15 years." Molly pursed her lips. "Did they really need to know about guard duty?"

"Come on, Molly. I'm sure your children are intelligent enough to realise that Dumbledore would never let Harry stay with the muggles unprotected."

"Well if they didn't know before they do now!"

"Mum, we're in the room," said Ron. "Do you want us to leave while you continue this conversation?"

"Don't you talk to me like that, Ronald Weasley," retorted Molly, cheeks burning. "Mira, would you like breakfast?"

"Just a slice of toast, thanks, Molly."

After a quick breakfast, Mira and Remus took their leave of Molly and the children and went upstairs. When they got to the landing leading to their separate rooms, Remus said, "You should bring your invisibility cloak with you. I'm borrowing one of Moody's. As you know, we'll be going to Arabella Figg's house first. I'll meet you here on the landing in 10 minutes."

"Wait, can't we share a cloak? We won't be able to see one another."

Remus smiled. "We can share one when we're not moving. If Harry decides to take a walk, we'll need to use separate ones. Here's the deal: if Harry does go for a walk, you stay to his left, and I'll stay to his right. We'll have a pair of mirrors, anyway, to communicate with when we get there. Don't worry so much."

"Over the years it's become my nature to worry about everything."

With that, they went into their rooms to get ready. Mira put her invisibility cloak into a small backpack and her wand in her robes. She would get the mirror at Arabella Figg's house when she signed in. She went into her adjoining bathroom and tied up her hair in a ponytail and splashed water on her face. Her nervousness was increasing by the second. She left her room and met Remus on the landing.

"It's about eleven-thirty," he said, checking his watch. "Our shift goes from twelve til six. We'll be taking over Bill and Tonks, as they both have work in the afternoon. We should leave now, as we have to sign in at Arabella Figg's house and walk to Harry's from there. Relax Mira, it'll be OK. I can tell you who he looks like, if you want me to, just in case it's a bit of a shock."

"A shock? What? No! Don't tell me! Oh man."

"Just breathe, Mira, just breathe. If you're this panicked when you're not actually making contact with him, I'd hate to see what state you'll be in when you actually meet him."

"Let's just go."

"You know, you may not even see him today. He may not decide to leave the house."

Mira didn't reply. She disapparated from Grimmauld Place and apparated in Arabella Figg's backyard. Remus arrived a moment later with a pop. Arabella Figg came out to the backyard carrying a cat. "Remus! You're here early. How are you?"

"I'm great, Arabella. You remember Mira Montrose, don't you?"

"Ah, yes. You were Lily's friend, weren't you? How do you do?"

Arabella Figg moved her cat into her left arm and shook Mira's hand with her right. "Well, come in, come in. You have to sign in and take the mirrors."

Mrs. Figg led them inside and showed them into the kitchen. There were a few cats in there. On the dining table was a long piece of parchment, a quill, a pot of ink and two small mirrors.

"OK. Just sign your names on the parchment, along with today's date and the time."

After Mira and Remus did this, Mrs. Figg smiled and said, "So, would you like a cup of tea before you head off?"

Mira and Remus agreed. They sat down and Mrs. Figg prepared some tea for them. After she sat down and took a sip of her tea, Mira asked, "Has Harry come to see you much?"

"Ah, you know about him coming to see me? Yes, he comes most days, hoping I'll be able to tell him more than the Daily Prophet does. But I hardly ever know myself. He also keeps asking if he'll be allowed to leave his Aunt and Uncle's house soon, but he already knows it'll still be a few weeks before Dumbledore will let him leave."

"I'd better contact Tonks and Bill, tell them we're here," said Remus.

Remus picked up one of the mirrors and said clearly, "Nymphadora Tonks."

Suddenly, Tonks' face appeared in the mirror instead of Remus' reflection. "Hey, Tonks," he said. "Mira and I are at Arabella's house now. We'll be at Harry's house in ten minutes. We'll tell Bill as well. How's Harry?"

"Wotcher, Remus!" whispered Tonks. "Harry hasn't left the house yet, so we don't know. We haven't heard any disturbing noises coming from the house and there haven't been any Dementors coming along, so it's been all good in that area. Maybe he'll leave the house later on."

"OK, Tonks. Well, we'll see you tonight, then. I'll tell Bill we're on our way."

"Bye Remus. Say hello to Mira for me."

"Finite."

"So, you going to talk to bill, too?" asked Mira.

"Yep. Bill Weasley."

Bill's face appeared just as suddenly as Tonks' did earlier on/

"Hey, Bill. Mira and I are at Mrs Figg's house at the moment. We'll be leaving in a minute to take over. How's the shift been going?"

"Hi, Lupin," whispered Bill. "Not much has been happening. Tonks has been out the front all morning and I've been out the back. Harry came out to the gazebo earlier for a little while, but went back inside for lunch about a half-hour ago. He might come back out later, or he might go for a walk."

"OK, well Mira and I are going to head over there, now. You and Tonks can head back to Mrs Figg's house in, say, about 5 minutes. See you tonight."

"See you, Lupin."

"Finite. Well, let's get going. Bye, Arabella."

Mira and Remus walked through Little Whinging until they were in the alleyway between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. Checking that no muggles were watching, Remus whispered, "Harry's street is at the end of this alleyway. His house is number four. Let's get under the same invisibility cloak. Moody's cloak is big, so we'll use his. Nervous?"

Mira nodded. Remus took her hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry; you don't need to make any explanations this time. We're just guarding him. If there's any emergency, we don't need to tell him who you are. Not yet, anyway."

Mira smiled faintly. "Well," she whispered, "Let's do this."

Remus, once more checking to make sure no muggles were watching, took out Moody's invisibility cloak and draped it over them both. After checking that they were both fully covered, they walked down the rest of the alleyway to Privet Drive. When they reached number four, Remus led the way to the hedge between number four and number six. He motioned to her to sit down, and they sat near the hedge. From where they were sitting, they had a clear view of the front door, as the Dursleys' car was in the garage.

"Well," whispered Remus, "All we can do is wait and watch."

At this stage, Mira was very alert and very nervous. Will Harry come outside? If so, when? Will she have to wait long to finally see her best friend's son soon?

The time passed slowly. Remus attempted conversation with Mira a few times, but dropped it after he realised she was too tense. By about one-thirty, Mira began to relax just a tiny bit, but not enough to keep a whispered conversation. What was Harry doing inside? It was a sunny day, why didn't he come outside and enjoy the sunshine? Mira had heard about the 'promise' Moody, Tonks and Remus had made to the Dursleys, but maybe it wasn't harsh enough? Maybe they were making him do horrible chores inside the house? No. The new Moody looked scary enough, thought Mira, and combined with his personality, which hadn't changed over the years, would make him terrifying to anyone not used to him.

So, back to the original question. Why wasn't Harry outside? Mira kept racking her brains, trying to think of a good reason as to why he wouldn't come out, until at around three, the front door opened.