Reviewer Notes:
NJ Nets Fan: Yeah, I thought I'd tie them together. Though, I wrote about it a year ago, and now I'm kind of stuck with her. Well, there she is.
Nikki: I'm not to keen on the idea of having Luna in here and all, but I wrote about it in my first story (which was about a year ago now, so my views have changed quite a bit) So, I apologize if the storyline's a bit, well, unrealistic. I'm stuck with it, since this is, in fact, a sequel.
Miss Piratess: Yes, Luna. I had the strongest urge to exclude her from the story, but I realized the whole Luna/Remus thing was written in stone... since I, erm, wrote it... not particularly in stone, but it's a well enough analogy to ff.net.
GollumGal: Oh, come one, don't HATE him! He's a poor confused little fellow. He'll figure it out in 12 years or so.
Kuutamo: I guess 'bastard undesirable piece of scum' just about sums him up nicely. And you better update.
Prongs4: A lot can happen in 5 chapters. And look, another chapter! How'd that happen?
Awkward: Awesomazing... hmmm... that's nice! I think I'll use that!
This Parrot has Ceased to Be: I could ignore what I said in the summary, but then, what good would a summary be? Sorry to say, but I'll have to. But don't worry, I watched 'The Lorax' by Dr. Seuss in Biology today, so I think I'm ready to write a remotely happy ending to put a small band-aid on the enormously big tragedy that is bound to ensue. And I had a Shamrock Shake from McDonald's if that makes any difference.
Meiko: No! That wasn't the end! No, go back. There.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was early May that Rebecca went into labor. Just as before, Remus was with her the whole way. He was only grateful it wasn't the full moon, or he'd have missed everything.
But just when he'd first held his daughter in his arms, whom they'd obediently named Luna, he could have sworn he'd seen the full moon in her eyes.
He smiled warily. Her eyes were beautiful, but at the same time haunting. No one else would ever understand that connection. The moon was his worst fear, and yet it was the aura that surrounded his own child.
He looked back to see her eyes were closed. He was momentarily surprised that she'd fallen asleep. So innocent, defenseless, and completely trusting in him.
It was only a question of whether Remus would let her down.
~~~~~~~~~~
"As a faithful servant, you will not question your master's decision. I will have her taken care of."
These, of course, were still nothing but words spoken in vain. Voldemort never did favors for his minions. Rebecca had been merely a pebble in his servant's shoe. And, like any master, he knew that a worker in discomfort worked harder.
But now that he was gone (and Lucius still believed all this fanaticism among the Death Eaters was all rubbish) there was no danger in doing things himself.
He was a free man again, and he had many friends in high places. His life was still in order, probably more so now that the Dark Lord wasn't controlling it.
Aside from his wife and his heir, there was still one Malfoy left to be dealt with – and that was Jamie. Everyone knew that Mr. Lupin was a pureblood, but Lucius was the only one to have done his homework. There was a muggle somewhere back there in those lines. He was a half-blood, and he was raising Lucius Malfoy's daughter.
They'd given her a muggle name. Jamie was still his, and he would keep her in his family. She was a Seer, after all. The Malfoy family could use a Seer.
It was a pity she hadn't given him a son, or he might have acted sooner. But now that his life was uneventful, he needed something to go after. Narcissa had had complications when having Draco. She was barren.
Lucius had always been taught that it was a shame for a family with such noble blood to produce only one heir. He'd invested himself in Jamie, and now she'd be raised to love filth.
He stopped himself. He'd need to lay low for a while. With wild Death Eaters running around, all the important wizarding families would be on their guard for such an attack.
It was only a matter of time.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Frank, did you hear something?"
Frank Longbottom didn't even glance up from his paper. "Must be Neville. I gave him some Exploding Snaps."
Alice sighed, looking in the other room. "I can see that."
When her husband had immersed himself back into his reading, Alice spoke again. "Are you sure you didn't hear anything?"
Neville tentatively reached out to touch one of the game pieces, which in turn exploded in his face. Neville started to cry.
Frank sighed, putting his paper down. "Alice, I think we have enough noise to worry about." He got up from his place at the table, and went over to assuage his unhappy child.
Alice walked over to the cage that held the family owl. She opened the latch, but frowned when the bird looked around her and hooted loudly.
Alice turned around, and saw from where she stood, three figures advancing on Frank and Neville.
"Frank!"
One of the figures turned around, and swore. The other two sent curses into the next room, but none of them were green, to kill.
"Find Dumbledore," she said to the owl, which took off in order to miss the spells sent its way. Another figure joined the one moving in on her, both with their wands out, and both laughing. One sounded like a woman.
"What do you want?" she asked them, when she felt her back hit the corner of two walls.
Both spoke their incantations simultaneously, but Alice wasn't dead when she opened her eyes. She couldn't move. She heard her husband shout.
"What are you talking about?" he said, unable to keep his voice from rising.
"The Dark Lord. Where are you keeping him?"
The other Death Eater was twirling Frank's wand in his hand.
Frank laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you, but he's dead." He glanced behind them and saw Neville poke his head out of the broom closet. Stay in there, son. Whatever you do.
His answer had struck the two, judging by their hateful murmurings, like a direct blow.
"Tell us."
Alice was shaking. "We don't have him, I swear, he's dead. He's gone."
"Tell us!" the woman shrieked.
"Hush, dear. People like her are slow with this sort of thing. Think a little pain'll get the message across?"
"Not particularly," Alice muttered.
"Shut up, you!" The woman sent forth a spell that hit Alice square in the chest.
Frank heard his wife screaming, and without thinking, he bound forward. He felt something strike a blow to his head, and he fell. He saw the broom closet shut tightly, and then he saw the floor.
One of the men had their foot on his back. "Tell us now, and we'll easily tell our friends to let your wife go."
"There's nothing to tell."
"Crucio!"
Alice felt herself hitting furniture, her hands were covering her head, her eyes were closed tightly to shut out the blinding white light. Knives were twisting inside her, all over her, her head hit the wooden floor, and she convulsed.
Frank couldn't distinguish Alice's screams from his own. How long would it take for them to give up? He would surely die. He wanted to die. If only they would kill him right now, the pain would stop. The madness would stop. He didn't even notice when his voice grew hoarse. They were laughing.
Just when the pain had nearly consumed their lives, a voice rang out above all the others, and the room stopped spinning.
Frank opened his eyes, and saw men above him in ropes, and a tall, old wizard gently slapping his face.
Alice got up from where she lay. A little boy opened a door. Alice wiped the tears from her eyes. The boy came forward towards her. Was he lost?
"Frank can you hear me? Frank!" Dumbledore brought out his wand, but Frank answered.
"Why can't I move?"
"Don't worry. Alice is alright. Neville's alright."
"Who are they? The ceiling's so white."
"Frank?" Dumbledore knew he wouldn't joke like this.
Frank sounded familiar. Maybe he'd met him once. He wanted to thank the old man, but suddenly forgot how to speak
After laying for a while, and hearing the old man calling some woman's name, the man felt himself being levitated magically, thinking about how beautiful the name Alice sounded to him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dumbledore waited for the whole lot of them to arrive, but then it struck him that everyone was accounted for. Eight people. That was their Order.
"I have celled you all here – Remus, Arabella, Sturgis, Dedalus, Alastor, Rubeus, Elphius, Minerva – to bring everything up to date."
"What happened to Frank and Alice?" Sturgis asked.
"They are currently in St. Mungo's... they wouldn't have been able to recognize any of you anyhow."
"And Voldemort?" That had come from Hagrid.
"I'm afraid... I'm afraid no one can kill him but young Harry, who has family in Surrey that has agreed to take him in."
"Albus," McGonagall said softly. "You mean to tell us... he'll return?"
"If that is what must happen for Harry to do what he must, then yes, Minerva.
"I'm afraid there's no need for us to sit here as an organized force any longer. Despite our lacking numbers, we need no recruits. This Order has fallen. Thank you for your efforts."
"But Dumbledore," Mrs. Figg protested. "Won't we need to help Harry when the time comes? If what you say is true, won't we meet again as the Order of the Phoenix?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes. But don't say a word. The world can't know yet. They will accept it in due time, but while we have Harry to think of, let's not inspire panic around him."
Alastor, who sported a bandage over his nose (compliments of Evan Rosier, whom the ministry had executed unmercifully), smiled grimly. "I think it's safe to say, Albus, that you hadn't named this organization merely on a whim."
Dumbledore smiled. "Indeed, I did have the future in mind. It was likely time would require of us a rebirth from our ashes." A whimsical smile once again played upon the old man's face.
"And I must say, Fawkes was very pleased."
~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius found it difficult to count the days in his mind, for his mind was no longer solid ground with such dreadful feelings inspired by the awful creatures that guarded the door to his cell.
At first, he'd been flattered to find he had maximum security. He tried to keep humor in his mind, sarcastic to a degree, lest he find himself just as miserable and empty as the prisoners around him.
The tally he kept on the wall showed that it'd been forty days. Sirius wasn't familiar with any of the stories of the Bible, but he knew enough to know that forty was a recurring number. Maybe if he was a hairy man in the desert, or some bloke in a boat with snakes and gorillas, it'd mean something.
Would he be here all his life with nothing to do but rehash his mistakes and talk to himself for company? Would he go mad? He remembered the stories people had told him about Azkaban long ago. They'd always say something to the extent of losing your mind in a month, but as far as he could tell, he was still perfectly sane. Granted, it was hell, this place – but he was surviving so far.
Just when he was wondering faintly if it was a Thursday, a dementor glided past his cell, dragging behind him a young boy. The boy glanced at Sirius for an instant, and looked away with tears in his eyes. For a moment, Sirius thought it was a woman. But who knows what was wrong with the boy, the lighting was horrible in this place. He was whispering something over and over under his breath, and if Sirius had been closer, he would have heard that he was saying, "Barty".
Another dementor passed, with a man following. The man grinned wickedly.
Two figures followed behind, both chained, and one of them dreadfully familiar.
"Be proud, cousin," Bellatrix called. Sirius gritted his teeth.
If it hadn't entirely been hell before – it was now. Just without the fire and brimstone.
Sirius picked up the rock he'd discarded earlier, and finding an empty space on his wall, he began his story. Everything – he poured out everything. He knew no one else would read it, for this was where he'd reside his whole life. The simple knowledge and confession that he was blameless – maybe not guiltless, but blameless – was what would keep him from losing who he was, if ever there was a day that he forgot he'd been an innocent man once.
~~
Okay, so I lied. 44's the last chapter.
NJ Nets Fan: Yeah, I thought I'd tie them together. Though, I wrote about it a year ago, and now I'm kind of stuck with her. Well, there she is.
Nikki: I'm not to keen on the idea of having Luna in here and all, but I wrote about it in my first story (which was about a year ago now, so my views have changed quite a bit) So, I apologize if the storyline's a bit, well, unrealistic. I'm stuck with it, since this is, in fact, a sequel.
Miss Piratess: Yes, Luna. I had the strongest urge to exclude her from the story, but I realized the whole Luna/Remus thing was written in stone... since I, erm, wrote it... not particularly in stone, but it's a well enough analogy to ff.net.
GollumGal: Oh, come one, don't HATE him! He's a poor confused little fellow. He'll figure it out in 12 years or so.
Kuutamo: I guess 'bastard undesirable piece of scum' just about sums him up nicely. And you better update.
Prongs4: A lot can happen in 5 chapters. And look, another chapter! How'd that happen?
Awkward: Awesomazing... hmmm... that's nice! I think I'll use that!
This Parrot has Ceased to Be: I could ignore what I said in the summary, but then, what good would a summary be? Sorry to say, but I'll have to. But don't worry, I watched 'The Lorax' by Dr. Seuss in Biology today, so I think I'm ready to write a remotely happy ending to put a small band-aid on the enormously big tragedy that is bound to ensue. And I had a Shamrock Shake from McDonald's if that makes any difference.
Meiko: No! That wasn't the end! No, go back. There.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was early May that Rebecca went into labor. Just as before, Remus was with her the whole way. He was only grateful it wasn't the full moon, or he'd have missed everything.
But just when he'd first held his daughter in his arms, whom they'd obediently named Luna, he could have sworn he'd seen the full moon in her eyes.
He smiled warily. Her eyes were beautiful, but at the same time haunting. No one else would ever understand that connection. The moon was his worst fear, and yet it was the aura that surrounded his own child.
He looked back to see her eyes were closed. He was momentarily surprised that she'd fallen asleep. So innocent, defenseless, and completely trusting in him.
It was only a question of whether Remus would let her down.
~~~~~~~~~~
"As a faithful servant, you will not question your master's decision. I will have her taken care of."
These, of course, were still nothing but words spoken in vain. Voldemort never did favors for his minions. Rebecca had been merely a pebble in his servant's shoe. And, like any master, he knew that a worker in discomfort worked harder.
But now that he was gone (and Lucius still believed all this fanaticism among the Death Eaters was all rubbish) there was no danger in doing things himself.
He was a free man again, and he had many friends in high places. His life was still in order, probably more so now that the Dark Lord wasn't controlling it.
Aside from his wife and his heir, there was still one Malfoy left to be dealt with – and that was Jamie. Everyone knew that Mr. Lupin was a pureblood, but Lucius was the only one to have done his homework. There was a muggle somewhere back there in those lines. He was a half-blood, and he was raising Lucius Malfoy's daughter.
They'd given her a muggle name. Jamie was still his, and he would keep her in his family. She was a Seer, after all. The Malfoy family could use a Seer.
It was a pity she hadn't given him a son, or he might have acted sooner. But now that his life was uneventful, he needed something to go after. Narcissa had had complications when having Draco. She was barren.
Lucius had always been taught that it was a shame for a family with such noble blood to produce only one heir. He'd invested himself in Jamie, and now she'd be raised to love filth.
He stopped himself. He'd need to lay low for a while. With wild Death Eaters running around, all the important wizarding families would be on their guard for such an attack.
It was only a matter of time.
~~~~~~~~~~
"Frank, did you hear something?"
Frank Longbottom didn't even glance up from his paper. "Must be Neville. I gave him some Exploding Snaps."
Alice sighed, looking in the other room. "I can see that."
When her husband had immersed himself back into his reading, Alice spoke again. "Are you sure you didn't hear anything?"
Neville tentatively reached out to touch one of the game pieces, which in turn exploded in his face. Neville started to cry.
Frank sighed, putting his paper down. "Alice, I think we have enough noise to worry about." He got up from his place at the table, and went over to assuage his unhappy child.
Alice walked over to the cage that held the family owl. She opened the latch, but frowned when the bird looked around her and hooted loudly.
Alice turned around, and saw from where she stood, three figures advancing on Frank and Neville.
"Frank!"
One of the figures turned around, and swore. The other two sent curses into the next room, but none of them were green, to kill.
"Find Dumbledore," she said to the owl, which took off in order to miss the spells sent its way. Another figure joined the one moving in on her, both with their wands out, and both laughing. One sounded like a woman.
"What do you want?" she asked them, when she felt her back hit the corner of two walls.
Both spoke their incantations simultaneously, but Alice wasn't dead when she opened her eyes. She couldn't move. She heard her husband shout.
"What are you talking about?" he said, unable to keep his voice from rising.
"The Dark Lord. Where are you keeping him?"
The other Death Eater was twirling Frank's wand in his hand.
Frank laughed. "Sorry to disappoint you, but he's dead." He glanced behind them and saw Neville poke his head out of the broom closet. Stay in there, son. Whatever you do.
His answer had struck the two, judging by their hateful murmurings, like a direct blow.
"Tell us."
Alice was shaking. "We don't have him, I swear, he's dead. He's gone."
"Tell us!" the woman shrieked.
"Hush, dear. People like her are slow with this sort of thing. Think a little pain'll get the message across?"
"Not particularly," Alice muttered.
"Shut up, you!" The woman sent forth a spell that hit Alice square in the chest.
Frank heard his wife screaming, and without thinking, he bound forward. He felt something strike a blow to his head, and he fell. He saw the broom closet shut tightly, and then he saw the floor.
One of the men had their foot on his back. "Tell us now, and we'll easily tell our friends to let your wife go."
"There's nothing to tell."
"Crucio!"
Alice felt herself hitting furniture, her hands were covering her head, her eyes were closed tightly to shut out the blinding white light. Knives were twisting inside her, all over her, her head hit the wooden floor, and she convulsed.
Frank couldn't distinguish Alice's screams from his own. How long would it take for them to give up? He would surely die. He wanted to die. If only they would kill him right now, the pain would stop. The madness would stop. He didn't even notice when his voice grew hoarse. They were laughing.
Just when the pain had nearly consumed their lives, a voice rang out above all the others, and the room stopped spinning.
Frank opened his eyes, and saw men above him in ropes, and a tall, old wizard gently slapping his face.
Alice got up from where she lay. A little boy opened a door. Alice wiped the tears from her eyes. The boy came forward towards her. Was he lost?
"Frank can you hear me? Frank!" Dumbledore brought out his wand, but Frank answered.
"Why can't I move?"
"Don't worry. Alice is alright. Neville's alright."
"Who are they? The ceiling's so white."
"Frank?" Dumbledore knew he wouldn't joke like this.
Frank sounded familiar. Maybe he'd met him once. He wanted to thank the old man, but suddenly forgot how to speak
After laying for a while, and hearing the old man calling some woman's name, the man felt himself being levitated magically, thinking about how beautiful the name Alice sounded to him.
~~~~~~~~~~
Dumbledore waited for the whole lot of them to arrive, but then it struck him that everyone was accounted for. Eight people. That was their Order.
"I have celled you all here – Remus, Arabella, Sturgis, Dedalus, Alastor, Rubeus, Elphius, Minerva – to bring everything up to date."
"What happened to Frank and Alice?" Sturgis asked.
"They are currently in St. Mungo's... they wouldn't have been able to recognize any of you anyhow."
"And Voldemort?" That had come from Hagrid.
"I'm afraid... I'm afraid no one can kill him but young Harry, who has family in Surrey that has agreed to take him in."
"Albus," McGonagall said softly. "You mean to tell us... he'll return?"
"If that is what must happen for Harry to do what he must, then yes, Minerva.
"I'm afraid there's no need for us to sit here as an organized force any longer. Despite our lacking numbers, we need no recruits. This Order has fallen. Thank you for your efforts."
"But Dumbledore," Mrs. Figg protested. "Won't we need to help Harry when the time comes? If what you say is true, won't we meet again as the Order of the Phoenix?"
Dumbledore smiled. "Yes. But don't say a word. The world can't know yet. They will accept it in due time, but while we have Harry to think of, let's not inspire panic around him."
Alastor, who sported a bandage over his nose (compliments of Evan Rosier, whom the ministry had executed unmercifully), smiled grimly. "I think it's safe to say, Albus, that you hadn't named this organization merely on a whim."
Dumbledore smiled. "Indeed, I did have the future in mind. It was likely time would require of us a rebirth from our ashes." A whimsical smile once again played upon the old man's face.
"And I must say, Fawkes was very pleased."
~~~~~~~~~~
Sirius found it difficult to count the days in his mind, for his mind was no longer solid ground with such dreadful feelings inspired by the awful creatures that guarded the door to his cell.
At first, he'd been flattered to find he had maximum security. He tried to keep humor in his mind, sarcastic to a degree, lest he find himself just as miserable and empty as the prisoners around him.
The tally he kept on the wall showed that it'd been forty days. Sirius wasn't familiar with any of the stories of the Bible, but he knew enough to know that forty was a recurring number. Maybe if he was a hairy man in the desert, or some bloke in a boat with snakes and gorillas, it'd mean something.
Would he be here all his life with nothing to do but rehash his mistakes and talk to himself for company? Would he go mad? He remembered the stories people had told him about Azkaban long ago. They'd always say something to the extent of losing your mind in a month, but as far as he could tell, he was still perfectly sane. Granted, it was hell, this place – but he was surviving so far.
Just when he was wondering faintly if it was a Thursday, a dementor glided past his cell, dragging behind him a young boy. The boy glanced at Sirius for an instant, and looked away with tears in his eyes. For a moment, Sirius thought it was a woman. But who knows what was wrong with the boy, the lighting was horrible in this place. He was whispering something over and over under his breath, and if Sirius had been closer, he would have heard that he was saying, "Barty".
Another dementor passed, with a man following. The man grinned wickedly.
Two figures followed behind, both chained, and one of them dreadfully familiar.
"Be proud, cousin," Bellatrix called. Sirius gritted his teeth.
If it hadn't entirely been hell before – it was now. Just without the fire and brimstone.
Sirius picked up the rock he'd discarded earlier, and finding an empty space on his wall, he began his story. Everything – he poured out everything. He knew no one else would read it, for this was where he'd reside his whole life. The simple knowledge and confession that he was blameless – maybe not guiltless, but blameless – was what would keep him from losing who he was, if ever there was a day that he forgot he'd been an innocent man once.
~~
Okay, so I lied. 44's the last chapter.
