"Mum, come and look!" Percy cried happily. "Come and see, mum!"

"Not now, Percy," she said offhandedly, as she picked up her Daily Prophet. She seemed transfixed by her paper, and somewhat overjoyed.

Percy frowned, disappointed. He'd go brag to Fred and George about what he'd found.

"Fred! George! I want to show you something!"

"Quiet down, Percy, you'll wake Ginny."

Obediently, Percy hushed. He ran outside and found Fred and George sitting in a giant puddle of dirty water.

"What are you two doing?" he asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Mud pie!" Fred shouted, and George threw a large glob of mud that landed suspiciously close to Percy.

"Mum'll get you for this," he said warily.

"What do you want, anyway?" Fred asked, standing up – which wasn't a very impressive act, seeing as he was only three and came to Percy's navel.

"Look what I found!" he whispered as he dotingly prized his hands open.

"It's a rat," Fred said flatly.

"Isn't he cute, though?" Percy asked expectantly.

"Yeah," George answered sarcastically. "Look's just like his mum, doesn't he?" Fred sniggered, falling back into the mud in hysterics.

Percy stuck his nose in the air. "Not my fault you'll never get to hold Scabbers."

"Why'd I want to hold an ugly thing like that?" George asked.

"Yeah," Fred said. "Call him Scabbers, you make him sound like a disease."

Percy frowned scornfully, and turned back to his rat. "I won't let anything happen to you, Scabbers. Especially not those two." The rat squeaked gratefully.

~~~~~~~~~~

"What have I got behind my back?" Remus asked.

Jamie screwed her face in concentration and closed her eyes tightly.

Rebecca sighed. "Are you testing her again, Remus?"

Remus nodded, smiling at Jamie, who beamed. "Daily Puppet!"

"Daily Prophet," Remus corrected her, chuckling.

"Let me see that," Rebecca said, snatching the paper from Remus's hands. "Have you read it yet?"

"No," he said. "What's it say?"

Rebecca turned the page. "Oh, just some wizard that got awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class. Doesn't look too exciting. Looks like someone was arrested for his murder this morning."

"That's the front page?" Remus asked incredulously.

"No," Rebecca said. "I skipped that. It's usually just rubbish they put on the front to catch people's attention."

"Well, what rubbish do we have today?" Remus said, laughing.

"You take it," Rebecca said, holding out the paper.

Remus grinned and took the paper.

"I didn't get any sleep last night," Rebecca said with a sigh. "Had the strangest dream."

"Voldemort defeated?" Remus exclaimed.

"Don't say that name in front of..." Rebecca stopped herself. "What did you say?"

Remus continued reading, and Rebecca sat down slowly, her eyes fixed on Remus.

"No," he said. His eyes widened with horror and he threw the paper from him as if it had burned his hands.

"What?" Rebecca asked him.

"No." He shook his head. "No."

"Remus, what? Speak to me!"

He glanced at her, and then to Jamie. "I have to leave," he said abruptly. His face was white, and he looked ill.

"Tell me, Remus!"

He took a shaky breath. "It's all in the paper. Sorry, but I have to go somewhere..."

"Where are you going?" Rebecca asked, picking up the paper from where it had been discarded.

"Anywhere," Remus said breathlessly. Inside, he knew where he was going, what he was going to do – but he couldn't possibly say it in front of his family. He would kill him...

Something triggered in his mind. "What did the paper say?"

Rebecca frowned. "Didn't you just read it?"

"No," he said. "After that. Who was arrested for murder?"

Rebecca narrowed her eyes, and opened the paper. "Early this morning, Ministry officials Apparated to... hey that's just down the street!"

"What does it say?" Remus said evenly.

"...for the arrest of... of Sirius Black."

"Damn you," Remus muttered under his breath, and Disapparated without another word.

~~~~~~~~~~

The world was in a state of utter joy. Witches and wizards rejoiced, people were excused from work, Hogwarts students were exempt from their studies, and owls had invaded the air.

It was like a national holiday. Everyone was celebrating and everyone knew why. Evil was gone – Voldemort had been defeated in the night. Everyone was buzzing with more news, and the story on everybody's lips was the one of the small boy named Harry Potter.

So many had told it different ways, that some merely dismissed it as a crazy rumor. But as November 1st wore on, and it seemed that everyone knew of the story and testified of its truth, these people were forced to accept it as fact.

But where this miraculous boy was now that he had no home, nobody could tell.

To the muggles' eyes, which were blind to the news of witches and wizards, it seemed that a large group of people had woken up and left their homes all simultaneously cheerful. They didn't know it, they needn't know it, but someone had saved them all from a nameless fear they wouldn't have been able to acknowledge until they'd been killed by him.

But among the large host of people that rejoiced, there was a very small handful of people that couldn't find it in their hearts to feel happy. Not with Lily and James Potter dead.

There was an even smaller group that felt worse. These people knew the whole story. These people were affected directly. These people had known Sirius Black.

These people felt utterly deceived.

~~~~~~~~~~

Remus walked slowly along the street, suddenly realizing he had no clue as to where he could find Dumbledore. He needed to speak with him – or anyone for that matter. Silence only brought him memories, and with the shock of everything happening all in one night, memories were almost as painful to accept as the news the morning had brought him.

As Lily and James's smiling faces faded from his mind, he began to think about Sirius. It was unthinkable, incomprehensible, unbelievable... How could he do this?

Remus had always known without a doubt how much Sirius cared for James. They were inseparable – like brothers, except they never fought. Remus had been defensive and somewhat hurt by Sirius's suspicions, but he'd always concluded it was just out of worry for James. He didn't like having to be the one in suspicion, but he'd continue to tell himself that Sirius had the right intentions.

He'd never even begun to think that Sirius was only trying to take the attention off of himself.

It was illogical, really. But, then again, perhaps that's what made it so brilliant.

Part of him was perfectly content that Sirius was off to Azkaban. If anyone deserved such an awful place, he did. And yet, another part of him couldn't help but come to anger because he hadn't gotten to him first.

Sirius, the spy. A murderer, a traitor. Clever, comical, annoyingly handsome... but foul and dark underneath it all. It was difficult to accept, but in the memory of Lily and James, Remus had no choice.

It was useless – wandering aimlessly. But he found he couldn't bring himself to go home. Not with his family there. He'd have to keep on a happy face for their sakes, and right now, he couldn't. He couldn't possibly go home and let them see the way he was torturing himself.

Now, more than ever, and for the first time in his life, Remus wished more than anything it could have been a full moon.

~~~~~~~~~~

Rebecca sat, her hands shaking and no longer capable of holding the paper in her hands. Jamie seemed to have detected the gravity of whatever was troubling her mother, and she quieted her complaints of hunger and boredom and whatnot.

It'd been hours since Remus had left, and she'd received only one letter since then. It was from Dumbledore. It must have been the same note sent to many, because the words had all been perfectly scripted, but her name hastily scribbled.

The words ran through her head like a broken record, attached to it the familiar rumble and weariness of Dumbledore's voice when something was weighing on his mind.

Harry is perfectly safe.

Sirius Black will never harm anyone again.

Lily and James Potter hadn't died without a cause.

And the statement that struck her the most – whether we choose to remember him or not, utter the vile sound of his name, or remain silent forever... Voldemort has not left us.

She wasn't sure what Dumbledore's tone might have been. What had he been thinking when he'd written that note? Perhaps he knew that none of this was an accident.

But along with all the tearing emotions of misery, anger, irony, hopelessness, grief, and despair – she still felt something within her relax. Whatever had kept her blind for so long was gone... she could feel Dumbledore's mind in this letter.

He was feeling just as much pain as anyone else. But not only for what had happened, but for what he knew was sure to come.

~~~~~~~~~~

Opened books were scattered across an array of different tables Albus Dumbledore had conjured quickly. The sun was lowering, and Harry was surprisingly patient.

Dumbledore smiled, thumbing through a few pages he'd researched before. "Only one thing left to do," he said soothingly, when Harry shifted.

He pulled a chair up right in front of the boy, and he lowered himself slowly to the seat. Harry did not move an inch, and Dumbledore leaned in closer.

The boy seemed to suddenly lack in attention span, as his round eyes traveled upwards to the vaulted ceiling. Dumbledore enforced the boy's gaze to meet his own with his weathered hands.

Slowly, the old man's eyes closed. "Legilimens," he whispered.

In a matter of seconds, after rushing images of green flashes and screams, Harry snapped back, clearly violated and upset. A distant wine issued from Harry's mouth, erupting into a wave of tears.

Dumbledore frowned apologetically, though he'd gotten the information he'd needed. It seemed to him the story, or at least the last five minutes of it, had played out perfectly. It was a horrible thing for a child to live through, but the perfect circumstances for the protection he'd been researching the past year.

It was an old spell, really – too old to be remembered or found credible – but effective nonetheless.

And as the old wizard gazed into the young wizard's face – the face of any hero and every hero before doing what Dumbledore had been obligated to do in his life, he saw himself – and James at the same time. This boy would overthrow the murderer of his family... and not a thing could touch him while his mother's blood sheltered him. From now on, Lily's screams ran through his veins.

Dumbledore raised his wand to complete the spell.

~~~~~~~~~~

Remus didn't return until well after the sun had set, in hopes that Jamie had been sent to bed.

When he Apparated into his house, however, he found this was not so.

"Daddy!" Rebecca held Jamie back when she saw Remus stumble.

"Remus," she breathed, taking a closer look. "Have you been drinking?"

His eyes were hazy. "No," he drawled hastily.

Rebecca exhaled slowly, frowning immensely. "You sure – I mean... Remus?"

He seemed to come around again. He sent a meaningful look Jamie's way, looked back and repeated firmly, "No."

Rebecca nodded miserably. "Jamie, honey, you go upstairs and I'll be up in a minute."

Jamie looked to each of them, unsatisfied without an explanation, and reluctantly trudged up the stairs.

"Are you – "

"Yeah," he growled. He scratched his head. "I... I just – found myself drinking. And it..." He stopped. "I forgot it all after a while."

Rebecca's eyebrows met.

"Sorry... I was... it was the Three Broomsticks. And I... Rosie was there." His voice faltered, and his face contorted with grief.

"Madam Rosmerta?"

He nodded. "Rosie knew... she... James and I... and Sirius – we snuck there all the... I – she didn't charge me for them, so I didn't stop..."

He swayed, but Rebecca held him by the shoulder. "You haven't done much drinking before, have you?"

He was a mess, and he seemed to have difficulty pulling a sentence together – and Rebecca had a feeling it wasn't only because of the alcohol.

"James made me once. I spat it in Peter's face." A feeble smile fluttered across his face, but fled when another entered his memory. "Sirius laughed so hard, he bought me another."

Rebecca said nothing, only nodded. She wasn't sure when or how to stop him. Then again, maybe he needed this. He needed to cry – though she could tell he was fighting it.

"I can't believe it," he said.

"Wh – what Sirius did?"

Remus answered with a scowl.

"I can't, either."

"It doesn't seem right."

"It isn't right."

"Nothing's right." His face was set like stone.

"But Harry... he wasn't hurt. It may not be logical, but at least that's right."

"He got what he'd dealt in the end, though, didn't he?" Remus spoke so softly, Rebecca had to lean in to hear.

"Sirius or Voldemort?"

"Both," he said in a near whisper.

"I don't know, Remus. This isn't over. For either of them."

"Oh, it's over for Sirius. With all the dementors breathing down his neck – the sheer memory of what he'd done'll kill him."

Rebecca was unsure. "Something's not right. And not just what he did... it's more than that."

Remus's eyes drooped – a clear sign that he wasn't paying attention. His eyes snapped open again.

"Maybe you should sleep it off," Rebecca said, shaking off her uneasy feeling.

Remus nodded distantly. Rebecca said something else, but the words must have faltered in his mind. The room was blurring, and fading to black.

All he needed was a good rest. To sleep forever. And after forever had come and gone, then maybe he'd be able to bear another day in the empty place the world had become to him.

~~~~~~~~~~

Just to avoid any doubt of when the end is, I'll say it now. Chapter 43 will be the last one. I'm only guessing, but that's the best guess I can give.