Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, or any of the Sailor Moon characters. I am just using them for the pure enjoyment of writing.
The Elite AurorsWritten By: Lenna Silverstar
Chapter Three: The Only Right Thing to Do
The silence became deafening as the two walked towards the room that would become Remus' for the night. Though Usagi had not mentioned that his room would be, unfortunately, within her quarters. She had only hoped that he would not argue with her decision to place him there. It would take several days to explain to the others why it was she had chosen the room across from her living room to house Remus.
Stepping inside the brightly lit room, Usagi looked at the leather couch where her familiar, Luna, was sleeping peacefully. A large fire was burning brightly in the hearth across from the couch, while silver beams of light fluttered in through the open curtains. A large white carpet spread out across the floor, reaching out to touch the walls across the room. Stretching out from the floor to ceiling, was a light shade of pink.
"Interesting place you have here Usagi." Remus replied noticing the large bookcase that spread across the far wall to his right. He walked up to the fire, and reached his hands out, as if to warm them. "Looks like your place back in London."
"Minako decorated my rooms back in London. Here I allowed myself to decorate it. Not many of the other rooms are decorated like this. The recruits are permitted the least of necessities, while the commanding officers are permitted a little more." Usagi explained as she stood in front of another doorway. "This will lead to your room, the washroom is just down the hallway, and I will wake you up in the morning so that you won't miss breakfast. Rather early morning tomorrow, but you can get started if you wish after breakfast."
"You are still coming tomorrow?" Remus questioned holding her gaze with his eyes.
"I said I was coming only to train the students better to protect themselves against Voldemort. I did say before I left that I would see the end of Voldemort. I left to build the training camp against him. I have done so. Now, I fear it is time for me to return to Hogwarts. I have a few things that I must attend to before I leave. But I am sure you won't mind waiting?" Usagi replied, looking over at her bookshelf. "Else you wish to leave right away, and then we can meet up again at Diagon Alley. There are a few things I need to pick up for this year's class. And then we can sit down at plan out the lessons."
"That sounds great to me Usagi." Remus replied as he step through the door leading to his room, while Usagi through herself down on the couch in front of the fire, taking little notice that Remus was standing at the doorway watching over her, as he had done once before.
---
The fire crackled in the dark Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A lonely figure sat in front of it, as the fiery glow danced on her golden hair, that fell from neat ondagos. The young seventh year Hufflepuff paid no mind to the figure who stood at the doorway of the Great Hall.
Her silky sobs fluttered to haunt his ears as he listened to her cry. It had pained him to know that something had brought her to sitting alone in the Great Hall, instead of sitting in her Common Room with those of her house sitting with her to comfort her where he could not. He had thanked the Professors over and over again that he had been made a Prefect in his fifth year, so that he would not get into any trouble standing there watching over her, while he should have told her to return to her Common Room.
'You would want to be alone too if something was bothering you.' Remus chided himself, as he watched Usagi wipe away another falling tear. Stepping inside the Great Hall, he closed the door behind him, and walked over to her. "Usagi," he whispered looking down at her. "What brings you down here?"
Fear filled her eyes as she looked up at Remus, nearly jumping at the thoughts of being caught by a Prefect. "Darn it. I should have left." She whispered quickly looking away. "I..I'll go to my Common Room now Remus, if you promise not to tell any one that I was out this late. Please don't tell the Professors. I can't stand another detention."
"You got a detention? For what?" Remus questioned as he sat down next to her.
"I was told that if I was caught wandering the halls again I would get a detention. Professor Mcgonagall found me wandering the halls three days ago, and gave me detention. Of course, she's out to get me, my Transfiguration grade is horrible, and it was a complete accident that I turned my lizard into a flaming flamingo. She took ten points away from Hufflepuff, you were there. What you didn't know was that she held me after class to tell me if I didn't bring my grade up, I would be forced to forget about becoming an Auror. What the heck was I supposed to do? Every since then, I've been thinking a lot. Maybe I'm not cut out to be an Auror."
"Usagi, you are one of the best student in Hufflepuff. Do you remember what happened before you went into class that day?" Remus questioned, and when he received an odd look from Usagi he continued, "You and Mamoru got into another fight, which resulted in your crying, and being distracted in class, you transfigured your lizard wrong."
"How…How did you know about that?" She looked up at him curiously, waiting for the answer she desired.
"Maybe next time you should talk to Mamoru about talking about your fights with some of the other Ravenclaws. Usagi, he knew I had over heard him telling his friends. He wasn't too pleased and he was afraid I would tell you. I didn't until now." He replied, as he stood up, "You had best get back to your Dorm, before a teacher finds you. If you keep your cool Usagi, you will become a great Auror you know that as well as I do."
She nodded her head, and took off down the hallway heading back to the Hufflepuff Common Room, while Remus was left to deal with Prefects' Duty for a few more hours. Though he was glad she wasn't mad that he had been watching her for some time before coming to talk to her. But the thought that she had not known he was there hadn't escaped him. He was sure Usagi was different then anyone else, she knew when he was around, even if she didn't let on to it.
---
"You can sit down you know." Usagi turned her head to look at him. "You stand there like I can't notice. And I know you know better. Why were you watching me back in the seventh year?"
"I was worried about you." Remus replied as he took a seat in the chair beside the couch. "I had no idea what had made you cry. And as you once said, friends are always there for one another. I didn't see anyone of your friends around, save myself. And I knew something was the matter." He looked at her for a moment, taking in the distant look in her eyes, and her face had paled drastically since he had last seen her, even with the tan he could see on her arms, he knew something was bothering her. "You seem as distant today as you did then. Something the matter?"
"Nothing you can help me with Remus." She replied softly looking down at Luna who had curled up on her lap. She sighed and looked up at Remus, "Do you know why I really left Hogwarts?"
Remus looked at her with a perplexed look on his face. She had left Hogwarts because of Mamoru's death, or so he and many others had thought. But if that wasn't the reason than what was.
"Mamoru was only part of it. After I graduated Hogwarts, and became an Auror I was so happy. Everything was going the way I wanted. I was going to get married, have a family, and I had a great job. But everything went down hill after Mamoru proposed." She released a heavy sigh and continued, "We fought more often than not. He always thought his plans were better than mine, though he wasn't an Auror; he was just a member of the Order. When Albus gave me that mission, where James and Lily came after me, I was so pleased to know I wouldn't have to work with Mamoru again. Even then I knew I was leaving and I wasn't going to come back."
"What do you mean?" Remus looked at her confused.
"I love Mamoru with all my heart. That would never change. But I couldn't marry him. Not knowing that all we did was fight, and that I would just find myself in tears more often than not. He wanted things his way or no way at all. Sometimes I could imagine what he would be like in Slytherin, and then things would change, and I could feel like there was no other for me." Tears stung her eyes as she went on, "But when he died, I knew then, that I was to leave. Hogwarts was no longer the home I had made it to be. There was so much pain there. So many memories. Lily, James, and then Mamoru. I could never walk the halls and know that my friends had died and there was nothing I could do to save them."
"But now you're returning Usagi. Are you sure you want to face all those memories?" Remus questioned taking her hand in his.
"I've got some of the best friends I could ask for coming with me. And besides, memories or not, I made a promise and I won't turn back on it." Usagi whispered, as she closed her eyes, as a vision of Godric Hollow washed over her.
---
A woman with shoulder blade length auburn hair stood holding an infant child in her arms. Standing out in the cool autumn air, she watched as her friend walked up the drive with James Potter at her side. They had finally returned from their mission, while they had left Lily to fret over whether or not her husband and friend would be returning when Voldemort was after them.
"You've made it!" She exclaimed throwing her arms around James' neck and kissing him before turning to Usagi. "I am glad you brought him back to me."
"I wouldn't think of anything else." Usagi giggled as she looked down at the baby in Lily's arms. "May I?" she questioned as Lily handed him over to Usagi. "When he's older he'll be a great wizard just like his father. Though I hope he won't be as pratish as you are."
"I resent that."
"You would" Usagi replied as she walked inside and sat down in a rocking chair with Harry in her arms. He had fallen asleep as she rocked back and forth listening to Lily and James talk quietly amongst them selves. She had no care of what they had to say to each other, she was more worried about the child in her arms.
"Is something the matter Usagi?" Lily questioned, as Usagi looked up at Lily with tears in her eyes.
"I worry about you all so much. If anything should happen to either of you, Harry will be left alone, or worse end up with a fate much like other members of the Order."
"We know you won't let anything happen to him." Lily replied as she went to the kitchen to fix some tea.
"Usagi, promise me something." James questioned as he looked down at his son.
"Anything for friends James."
"If anything should happen to Lily and I, and Harry is left alone, make sure nothing happens to him. It would be heartbreaking to know he would suffer if we should pass away before he has time to grow."
"James I would do everything in my power to make sure Harry grew up safe. But nothing will happen to you or Lily as long as your Secret Keeper keeps things to himself." Usagi replied.
---
Soft tears rolled down her cheeks as she looked into the fire. Leaving them to fall, she stood up and excused herself to her room. Changing quickly she threw herself down on her bed, and tried to forget all that had happened. She had forced these memories out of her mind so that she would never have to fulfil her promise, she had always believed Harry was safe and didn't need her help, and she was probably right.
The door opened and Remus sat down on the edge of her bed. "Usagi,"
"Go away please. Remus I just want to be alone."
"Usagi, you had no idea that Lily and James had changed their secret keeper, no one did. You can't blame yourself for not being there. You could very well have joined them."
"Remus, I promised I would keep them safe. I promised and they're dead. Now I have to go and make sure Harry doesn't end up like them." Usagi whispered as she flung herself into Remus' arms. "I don't think I can go back…I don't think I can face Harry."
"Harry is a very understanding boy Usagi. I met him when he was in his 3rd year at Hogwarts. And it was he who brought out the truth of who really betrayed Lily and James. He'll understand that you are there to help protect him." Remus replied as he felt Usagi's body tense up.
"And what if I can't? What if I fail and he ends up just like everyone else? What then? I would have broken my promise to James. I can't watch another person die, don't you understand. Mamoru was the last straw, the last person to die. No more promises, no more pain. I can't do it. I left and came here for a reason; no one was supposed to find me. I was never supposed to return." She half yelled between sobs. She averted her eyes from his, as he tried to look her in the eyes.
Wiping away her tears, Remus held her in his arms. At least someone was there for her, like Mamoru might have been. "You don't know if you don't try. Without the extra guidance of the Elite Aurors, Harry and the students might end up dead anyway. What harm can come with giving them a bit extra protection?"
"That's easy for you to say. You didn't watch your fiancé die at the hands of a Deatheater." Usagi replied angrily, there was more anger in her statement than she had anticipated, but she knew, or hoped that Remus would understand her anger towards the events that pushed her to leaving. "I'm sorry Remus. You should go get some rest. I'll be alright." She reached into the top of her nightstand drawer and pulled out a dreamless sleep potion. Ah my salvation on nights like these! She thought to herself, as she looked up at Remus through blurry eyes.
"If you need anything Usagi, I'll be just around the corner." He replied as he stood to leave her room.
Standing at the door once more, he watched her take the dreamless sleep potion, and drift off into slumber. Transfiguring himself a chair and blanket, he took to sitting over her like a protective parent might do for their child. He truly cared about her; he had always cared about her. On those very nights that he found her alone and crying because of Mamoru, he had wanted more than anything to be the one to consol her, or be there for her when she woke with a fear in the night, but they had always been in separate houses, now he had that opportunity and he wasn't about to loose it.
He could always tell when she had a sleepless night, or when she was trying to forget the night before. It had always pained him to see her like that, even more so when she released her temper onto someone. Normally he was lucky in that case, Usagi had always managed to release her anger on Rei, or one of the Slytherins. Though the pain in her eyes would not fade for sometime afterwards.
---
Through cloudy eyes, Usagi glared at Rei who had said something about her needing to take the day off classes for sleep. Normally she would have agreed with her just to get out of an afternoon of Double Potions, but with it being their fifth year, and the need to getting an Outstanding Owl in Potions, Usagi opted to head to class.
"Usagi, look at you. You're a mess!" Rei argued, as they state at the Hufflepuff table in the Great Hall. She over heard Malfoy whispering something to Lestrange that sounded a lot like, 'Who does she think she is associating with Hufflepuffs'. She had never let his senseless talk bother her any, it was her duty to protect her Princess and she was going to do that no matter what, even if she was a Slytherin, and Usagi was a Hufflepuff.
"I don't care." Usagi growled, as she stood up from the table. "Remember who you are talking to Rei." She turned and walked away from the group, though they quickly followed after her. She was surrounded in the Great Hall, with the students and teachers over looking the commotion, but no one moved. "Move please. I need to get my stuff for Potions."
"You're heading right back up to your room young lady." Setsuna stated, as a Seventh year Ravenclaw, the girl had more of a right to order Usagi around, having a blue prefects badge on her robes. "Now, Usagi, you'll head straight back to your Room, and forget about Potions. Ami or I will help you later."
"Please," the tears began to fall, as she look pleadingly with her friends, "Just let me go to class. It's the only thing keeping my mind off certain things." She felt a hand clasp down on her shoulder, as she looked up to see Mamoru standing there. The tears quickly stopped falling as he whispered something in her ear. "No!" she shouted in reply.
"There is no need to get angry Usagi." Mamoru replied looking down at her as if he had said nothing to upset her.
"I'll go to class, and then I will rest. Now if you'll all excuse me." Usagi stated as she pushed her away passed Minako and Makoto, who let her go much to the distain of the group.
"Everything alright Usagi?" Lily questioned as she ran up to the blond.
"Of course." She lied, and Lily knew she had. "Over protective friends that's all. I don't sleep one night and they take it, as I haven't slept in a month. And Mamoru, he just wants what's best for me."
"If you say so." Lily replied looking over at Remus and the others. "Don't worry about them, they'll come around eventually and realize you can take care of yourself. Besides, it is our most important year, you should be in Potions. Will you ever tell anyone the truth?"
"The truth about what?" Usagi questioned putting on her best confused face.
"That you don't truly love Mamoru. It's obvious you know. Every time he comes near you, you cringe, or any time he kisses you, you get these tears in your eyes like your betraying your heart." Lily stated, as she looked back at Usagi, "It's not the same when you look at him though." She nodded towards Remus.
"Remus and I are just friends, that's it nothing more. I love Mamoru."
"If you keep saying it, you might believe it. I'm just stating what I see." Lily replied as she walked away from Usagi. "Just remember, he'll never purposely make you cry like some others."
---
She woke with a start, as she looked over at Remus who had fallen asleep in the chair. Silently cursing him for staying there the night, she moved him to her bed, while she went to shower. The alarm would go off in exactly thirty minutes, and she would prefer being clean before it went off. She had always been that way, waking up before the alarm. Well ever since school had ended and she had begun her Auror training. Though she was not always that way.
---
"Tsukino, late again are we?" the instructor bellowed as several other Aurors in training giggled.
"Sorry sir, my alarm didn't go off. It won't happen again." Usagi had hoped it would never happen again. She had done everything she could to be sure she was on time. When school had ended she had spent the two months before the training began getting ready. Working out, being sure to be up before five am, and eating a small light breakfast.
"Take a seat!" he growled, as Usagi quickly took her seat next to Ami, "Now since Tsukino was late, would someone KINDLY fill her in on what she has missed!"
"Yes Sir," Ami stated as she went over the course of what had happened in the fifteen minutes that she was late. And they had covered a lot. That not everyone who was in the training became a full Auror out in the field, but remained there and continued until they were needed. That it would take brains, the skills, and the nerve to stand in front of a Deatheater, and not get killed. And that more and more Aurors were dying.
"I'm sorry Sir, but how can you stand there and tell us that not all of us will live if we become an Auror?" Usagi questioned as she looked around the class to see that several of her fellow students from Hogwarts were sitting in that room with her.
"Because it is the truth. And keeping it hidden does nothing."
"But you can't be sure that any of us will die. You haven't even given us a chance to prove what we know. All you know are our OWL And NEWT scores. You have no idea if we have experience in duelling, or if we can even withstand the pressure it will take to stand in front of a deatheater and not wet our pants." she continued, though she was sure she was going to get into trouble.
"Here now!" he ordered as Usagi stood and found herself standing in front of the instructor. "If I were a Deatheater what would you do."
"Antagonize you to a point where you would use one of the unforgivable curses on me. Where I would dodge it, and then I would stun your ass, and put you in Azkaban. Though that is pure theory, you're not a deatheater, and I'm not standing there having to worry I'm going to get killed." Usagi replied, noting the annoyance in her instructor's eyes. "Though I have managed to antagonize you without even trying."
"You have no consideration for this field. How do you plan on becoming an Auror with that attitude?"
"It is the right kind of attitude sir. One must have faith in their abilities before they advance in life. I have faith that I can prove you wrong and become one of the best damn Aurors of this class." Usagi replied as she noted that her instructor had his wand in his hand. "Tsk Tsk, I can't believe on the first day of class you have your wand in your hand, are you going to curse me?" she questioned though what her instructor had failed to notice was that she had seen him take his wand in his hand and had done so to protect herself.
"Miss Tsukino, I would not attack one of my students." He said in defence, still having not noticed Usagi's wand in her hand.
"Might I ask, how you intend on teaching us, when you have yet to take in the fact that I am holding my wand?" Usagi questioned much to the shock of the instructor. "Mild concealing charms work wonders when you don't want someone to know you are holding something that could inevitably bring about their end. When you go to school with a bunch of Slytherins, one does need to take precautions to stay alive to see the end of term."
"Miss Tsukino, I have never seen any one of my students come into this room, directly insult my teaching abilities, manage to aggravate me to the point that point of exploding, and still manage to teach me something in the process!"
"Then I think I should take that as a compliment, and take my seat again sir, so you may continue with your lesson?" She turned on the balls of her feet and took her seat again, much to the shock of the class.
"Miss Tsukino, I believe you may very well prove me wrong by becoming one of my best students. But that doesn't mean I won't test you all to your limits. Now, I want you all to head out into the drill yard and begin today's drills." He ordered as the class headed out to begin their first day of training.
---
And look where you are today Tsukino, standing in a training base that only the best Aurors come to. You did prove him wrong. She thought to herself, as she began to dry herself off. She could faintly hear the alarm buzzing over the running water in the sink. Wrapping a towel around herself she walked back into her bedroom, completely forgetting that she had put Remus in her bed after she woke up. Her eyes widened with shock as she saw him standing there.