Chapter 9
I do not own anything related to the Harry Potter series. Ms. Rowling is the genius there. The story idea is mine though, along with any characters I made up for the story. Thanks to James for beta-ing for me, I know I drove her nuts! I was not sure how to end this, but I hope my reviewers like it, especially those who have been reading since the beginning!
Thanks for the reviews; I really like to hear what people have to say about my writing. On to the last chapter.
XxXxX
Remus and Molly picked up the tea set and moved into the living room where they would be more comfortable. Molly poured the steaming liquid into the old china cups. She handed one to Remus and sat herself down next to him on the couch. Molly poured cream and sugar into her own tea but her eyes never left Remus' face.
"Everything was going fine. Gala was having some problems with learning to deal without magic, but she was also amused by muggles. We didn't give up magic completely anyway." Remus shifted in his seat; "In the month since we had left Hogwarts, we had traveled quite a ways. We were in Romania."
XxXxX
Gala leaned over the stove and stirred the cooking stew. She smiled at her reflection in the window while straightening her strawberry blonde hair. Remus was due home any minute and she wanted to have dinner ready for him. The people in Romania were very superstitious and it was better to be friendly and not draw attention. They would only be here a few more days, but better safe than sorry, especially with Remus' problem. Remus was at a neighbor's house helping out for the day, at least it was a few extra bucks.
Gala snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of the screen door banging shut. She waited expectantly for Remus to enter the kitchen area. She didn't wait long. Remus walked into the room with his hand behind his back. She smiled lovingly at him before he hugged her tightly.
"Happy Birthday Baby." Remus pulled a bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her. "I told you I would cook tonight, it's your birthday."
"You worked today," Gala sat him down at the small table.
Remus watched her as she worked around the small kitchen. She was humming to herself and he listened closely to her. He smiled when he recognized the tune, Just You and Only You. He couldn't wait any longer. Gala looked into his eyes and smiled delicately before returning to her work.
"Gala?"
She looked up from the stove.
"Come here and sit down a second, please?"
Concern covered her features, but she waited patiently until she was seated across from him. "Yes?"
Remus reached out his hand to cover hers securely. "We need to talk for a minute." He paused, searching for words, "Gala, I know things are tight right now, but I don't want you to get upset." Remus pulled a small package from his coat pocket; "I bought it before we left school anyway."
Gala looked at the red paper wrapping her surprise birthday present. She slowly unwrapped the package to stare at a velvet jewelry box. She looked at him while blinking back the tears and slowly opened the box to reveal a small heart shaped diamond setting. When she looked back to Remus he had moved to kneel beside her.
"Gala, will you marry me?"
Tears spilled down her cheeks; "Of course I will Baby."
XxXxX
Molly dabbed at the tears in her eyes. She did not, however, fail to notice Remus rub his face quickly with his sleeve.
"We had a candlelit stew dinner that night with homemade bread. Not the most romantic way of proposing, but if you had asked Gala, she would have said it was romantic."
Remus paused again. "We decided to have a small ceremony with just my friends. We talked in the mirror that night with them and told them the good news. We set the date for two years in November. James and Lilly knew Gala's father was watching them. No one looked at Sirius because his cousin became involved with Lucius, everyone assumed he would turn in his traitor friend and Gala for a reward."
"How old was Gala when you proposed?"
"She had just turned eighteen."
Remus stopped and looked at the dying fire. His smile died and he shifted again and ran his hand through his faintly graying hair. Molly realized he was probably fighting the horrible memories and trying to hide his feelings. His right hand reached into his robe pocket and pulled out the worn picture. He smiled at the happy couple before looking blankly back into the fire.
Remus looked towards Molly, but Molly knew he was looking past her...
"We had been in hiding for a year and a half."
XxXxX
They had been living in a small village outside of Paris for the last few weeks. The couple had been in hiding for the last year and a half and had finally settled down after their many excursions.
Remus had a job teaching at a muggle school part-time. He was able to work a few hours almost everyday. He was a favorite substitute in the school because he was so good about things. He didn't mind the jokes and even gave out suggestions for pranks.
Gala mostly worked at home, but would sometimes help at a local bakery shop. She smiled as she thought about her boss, Mrs. Elish. The small round woman couldn't figure out how Gala could put a cake together as fast and efficiently as she could, especially with no school training. Fortunately, her boss was also their landlord.
The house they were renting needed fixed up, and Mrs. Elish did not charge them much. The deal was Gala and Remus could stay as long as they wanted for low rent as long as they fixed and kept the house up. They often worked on improvements during the weekend, but magic made things easy. The house was warm and cozy in less than a month. Gala and Remus suspected another reason as well. Mrs. Elish wanted to help a young happy couple in getting ready to be married.
Gala was in the living room reading when Remus came home. She had cleaned the house earlier that day to prepare to put up Christmas decorations. She jumped up as soon as he was in the door and dusting off the snow from his boots. She pulled him out of his coat and rushed upstairs. Remus smiled at her from the bottom of the stairs and stretched lazily.
"C'mon!"
Remus continued to smile, "what's the hurry?"
"You said we could decorate tonight!"
"Alright, if your in that big of a hurry." Remus bolted up the stairs after her.
The tree had just been finished when they heard a knock at the door. Remus jumped up from their couch and opened the front door. Mrs. Elish smiled warmly and entered brushing the snow from her shoulders. Gala looked up from the couch and smiled back.
"Oh, dear," Mrs. Elish colored pink, "I hope I didn't interrupt anything."
"Of course not Mrs. Elish," Gala sat up, "we were just settling down for a long winter's night is all."
"Then I won't be long dears, I just wanted to drop off your present." Mrs. Elish reached into her jacket and brought out a package. "It's for the both of you."
Gala accepted the package eagerly while Remus went to the hall closet. Mrs. Elish looked surprise when Remus put a present into her hands.
"Open it."
"You kids should be saving your money for your wedding. Besides, you've done more than I expected with the house." Mrs. Elish was opening the present anyway. She inhaled quickly when she picked up what looked like a small-crystallized egg.
"It's supposed to be a dragon's egg, very rare." Gala explained. The egg was really a dragon's unfertilized egg. It had been given to her from one of the guys in Slytherin trying to get her to go out with him. Gala knew Mrs. Elish did not realize it was a real dragon's egg, but she would still treasure it, and Gala felt someone who would treasure it deserved it.
"Wow." Mrs. Elish was practically speechless. She looked and turned the egg over carefully examining every part of it for several minutes. She looked up from the egg, "open your present darlings."
Remus stood next to Gala as she ripped open the gift. The couple looked at the camera and smiled at their landlord. "This is great Mrs. Elish, we wanted one of these."
"Stand back darlings, let me take your picture." Gala and Remus stood against the wall and smiled brightly at the camera.
"Well dears, I had better get going." Mrs. Elish buttoned her coat and opened the door, "have a good night." She swept out the door.
"We'll have to get this developed at a wizarding store, especially after the wedding ceremony." Remus turned the camera over and looked at it.
"Its getting late hun, lets go to bed." Gala started up the stairs.
Remus stood at the bottom of the stairs, "Are you really tired?"
"Not yet."
Remus raced up the stairs after Gala catching her at the doorway to their bedroom and kissed her.
Gala's eyes fluttered open. It was early; it was very, very early. She rolled onto her side and kissed Remus before getting slowly out of bed. She yawned pulling on her robe and headed out the bedroom door. She was craving a small glass of milk. 'What a pain, its cold and I want milk.' She reached the kitchen and flipped on the light.
Remus was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly yanked from his bed. His arms were roughly pulled behind his back and heavy cords were tightly tied around his wrists. Remus looked up blinking and he was met with a fist. 'No.' He was trying to clear his thoughts, but it was useless with whoever was beating on him. There was a scream and it came from downstairs. The blows stopped and there was rough laugh.
"He isn't going anywhere, lets go downstairs and have some fun."
Remus looked up at the two men dressed in heavy cloaks, wizarding cloaks. He tried to see their faces, but it was too dark and he didn't recognize the voices. The scream filled the air again, Gala! He struggled against the ropes. He could feel them loosening, but they were not off yet. She was screaming again, why wouldn't these ropes come off? Malicious laughter floated up from the hall stairs as she screamed. Gala was in pain, and he wasn't there yet. Remus suddenly spread his wrists and pulled as hard as he could. The ropes stretched and he pulled his left hand out. Gala's scream had grown weak.
"Gala!"
He grabbed his wand from the bedside table and pounded down the hallway.
"Gala!" Remus was yelling.
The malicious laughter continued while Gala grew weaker. Then Remus heard it.
"Avada Kedavra!"
There was a flash of green light from the kitchen and the jeering laughter died away as Gala's muffled sobbing ended. Remus howled with anger and sprinted into the kitchen. Wisps of smoke faded into the air where the evil wizards had recently apparated. Gala lay on the floor breathing heavily. Remus lifted her head and looked over her to see if there were any damaging marks on her body.
"No... no." Remus could feel tears burning down his face.
Gala looked at him through bleary eyes as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Remus turned her on her side so she would stop choking on her own blood. She sputtered lightly before gripping his hand with hers. Seconds later Gala's grip lessened and she lay still.
Remus did not even realize he was screaming.
XxXxX
"She died in my arms, less than one year till we would have been married."
Molly was crying openly next to Remus. Right now though, he did not feel he could comfort her. He looked over at her and pulled his handkerchief from his pocket. Molly wiped at her eyes.
"Do-do you know who?" Molly struggled to control her voice.
"Not for sure, but I think Malfoy had something to do with it. Gala had defied him, and I think he wanted revenge." Remus stopped for a second, "And I think Lord Crian had something to do with it. I'm not too sure on the reasoning there though, other than she defied him to."
"His own daughter." Molly felt anger building.
"Three years later I lost James and Lilly to the same curse. Sirius I lost to Azkaban. And Peter to the dark side."
"Remus."
He looked at her for the first time since they had come into the living room.
"Gala would not want you to forget her, but she would not want you to think you failed her. Do you think it makes her happy to see you in pain all the time and for so long?"
"She died because I could not help her." Remus looked hurt, "did you miss that?"
"She did not die because you could not help her Remus," Molly stated, "she died because she wanted to live her life." She paused letting him think about what she had said. "You gave Gala what she wanted. She did not leave you Remus, she is still with you." Molly cleared the tea set, "think about it."
Molly left Remus sitting quietly in his own thoughts.
XxXxX
Remus changed for the night, it had been a long day. Reliving Gala's death had been very hard on him. He slipped into sleep with ease. When he woke the next morning he could remember part of his dream, and Gala had been smiling.
Finish
I do not own anything related to the Harry Potter series. Ms. Rowling is the genius there. The story idea is mine though, along with any characters I made up for the story. Thanks to James for beta-ing for me, I know I drove her nuts! I was not sure how to end this, but I hope my reviewers like it, especially those who have been reading since the beginning!
Thanks for the reviews; I really like to hear what people have to say about my writing. On to the last chapter.
XxXxX
Remus and Molly picked up the tea set and moved into the living room where they would be more comfortable. Molly poured the steaming liquid into the old china cups. She handed one to Remus and sat herself down next to him on the couch. Molly poured cream and sugar into her own tea but her eyes never left Remus' face.
"Everything was going fine. Gala was having some problems with learning to deal without magic, but she was also amused by muggles. We didn't give up magic completely anyway." Remus shifted in his seat; "In the month since we had left Hogwarts, we had traveled quite a ways. We were in Romania."
XxXxX
Gala leaned over the stove and stirred the cooking stew. She smiled at her reflection in the window while straightening her strawberry blonde hair. Remus was due home any minute and she wanted to have dinner ready for him. The people in Romania were very superstitious and it was better to be friendly and not draw attention. They would only be here a few more days, but better safe than sorry, especially with Remus' problem. Remus was at a neighbor's house helping out for the day, at least it was a few extra bucks.
Gala snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of the screen door banging shut. She waited expectantly for Remus to enter the kitchen area. She didn't wait long. Remus walked into the room with his hand behind his back. She smiled lovingly at him before he hugged her tightly.
"Happy Birthday Baby." Remus pulled a bouquet of flowers from behind his back and handed them to her. "I told you I would cook tonight, it's your birthday."
"You worked today," Gala sat him down at the small table.
Remus watched her as she worked around the small kitchen. She was humming to herself and he listened closely to her. He smiled when he recognized the tune, Just You and Only You. He couldn't wait any longer. Gala looked into his eyes and smiled delicately before returning to her work.
"Gala?"
She looked up from the stove.
"Come here and sit down a second, please?"
Concern covered her features, but she waited patiently until she was seated across from him. "Yes?"
Remus reached out his hand to cover hers securely. "We need to talk for a minute." He paused, searching for words, "Gala, I know things are tight right now, but I don't want you to get upset." Remus pulled a small package from his coat pocket; "I bought it before we left school anyway."
Gala looked at the red paper wrapping her surprise birthday present. She slowly unwrapped the package to stare at a velvet jewelry box. She looked at him while blinking back the tears and slowly opened the box to reveal a small heart shaped diamond setting. When she looked back to Remus he had moved to kneel beside her.
"Gala, will you marry me?"
Tears spilled down her cheeks; "Of course I will Baby."
XxXxX
Molly dabbed at the tears in her eyes. She did not, however, fail to notice Remus rub his face quickly with his sleeve.
"We had a candlelit stew dinner that night with homemade bread. Not the most romantic way of proposing, but if you had asked Gala, she would have said it was romantic."
Remus paused again. "We decided to have a small ceremony with just my friends. We talked in the mirror that night with them and told them the good news. We set the date for two years in November. James and Lilly knew Gala's father was watching them. No one looked at Sirius because his cousin became involved with Lucius, everyone assumed he would turn in his traitor friend and Gala for a reward."
"How old was Gala when you proposed?"
"She had just turned eighteen."
Remus stopped and looked at the dying fire. His smile died and he shifted again and ran his hand through his faintly graying hair. Molly realized he was probably fighting the horrible memories and trying to hide his feelings. His right hand reached into his robe pocket and pulled out the worn picture. He smiled at the happy couple before looking blankly back into the fire.
Remus looked towards Molly, but Molly knew he was looking past her...
"We had been in hiding for a year and a half."
XxXxX
They had been living in a small village outside of Paris for the last few weeks. The couple had been in hiding for the last year and a half and had finally settled down after their many excursions.
Remus had a job teaching at a muggle school part-time. He was able to work a few hours almost everyday. He was a favorite substitute in the school because he was so good about things. He didn't mind the jokes and even gave out suggestions for pranks.
Gala mostly worked at home, but would sometimes help at a local bakery shop. She smiled as she thought about her boss, Mrs. Elish. The small round woman couldn't figure out how Gala could put a cake together as fast and efficiently as she could, especially with no school training. Fortunately, her boss was also their landlord.
The house they were renting needed fixed up, and Mrs. Elish did not charge them much. The deal was Gala and Remus could stay as long as they wanted for low rent as long as they fixed and kept the house up. They often worked on improvements during the weekend, but magic made things easy. The house was warm and cozy in less than a month. Gala and Remus suspected another reason as well. Mrs. Elish wanted to help a young happy couple in getting ready to be married.
Gala was in the living room reading when Remus came home. She had cleaned the house earlier that day to prepare to put up Christmas decorations. She jumped up as soon as he was in the door and dusting off the snow from his boots. She pulled him out of his coat and rushed upstairs. Remus smiled at her from the bottom of the stairs and stretched lazily.
"C'mon!"
Remus continued to smile, "what's the hurry?"
"You said we could decorate tonight!"
"Alright, if your in that big of a hurry." Remus bolted up the stairs after her.
The tree had just been finished when they heard a knock at the door. Remus jumped up from their couch and opened the front door. Mrs. Elish smiled warmly and entered brushing the snow from her shoulders. Gala looked up from the couch and smiled back.
"Oh, dear," Mrs. Elish colored pink, "I hope I didn't interrupt anything."
"Of course not Mrs. Elish," Gala sat up, "we were just settling down for a long winter's night is all."
"Then I won't be long dears, I just wanted to drop off your present." Mrs. Elish reached into her jacket and brought out a package. "It's for the both of you."
Gala accepted the package eagerly while Remus went to the hall closet. Mrs. Elish looked surprise when Remus put a present into her hands.
"Open it."
"You kids should be saving your money for your wedding. Besides, you've done more than I expected with the house." Mrs. Elish was opening the present anyway. She inhaled quickly when she picked up what looked like a small-crystallized egg.
"It's supposed to be a dragon's egg, very rare." Gala explained. The egg was really a dragon's unfertilized egg. It had been given to her from one of the guys in Slytherin trying to get her to go out with him. Gala knew Mrs. Elish did not realize it was a real dragon's egg, but she would still treasure it, and Gala felt someone who would treasure it deserved it.
"Wow." Mrs. Elish was practically speechless. She looked and turned the egg over carefully examining every part of it for several minutes. She looked up from the egg, "open your present darlings."
Remus stood next to Gala as she ripped open the gift. The couple looked at the camera and smiled at their landlord. "This is great Mrs. Elish, we wanted one of these."
"Stand back darlings, let me take your picture." Gala and Remus stood against the wall and smiled brightly at the camera.
"Well dears, I had better get going." Mrs. Elish buttoned her coat and opened the door, "have a good night." She swept out the door.
"We'll have to get this developed at a wizarding store, especially after the wedding ceremony." Remus turned the camera over and looked at it.
"Its getting late hun, lets go to bed." Gala started up the stairs.
Remus stood at the bottom of the stairs, "Are you really tired?"
"Not yet."
Remus raced up the stairs after Gala catching her at the doorway to their bedroom and kissed her.
Gala's eyes fluttered open. It was early; it was very, very early. She rolled onto her side and kissed Remus before getting slowly out of bed. She yawned pulling on her robe and headed out the bedroom door. She was craving a small glass of milk. 'What a pain, its cold and I want milk.' She reached the kitchen and flipped on the light.
Remus was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly yanked from his bed. His arms were roughly pulled behind his back and heavy cords were tightly tied around his wrists. Remus looked up blinking and he was met with a fist. 'No.' He was trying to clear his thoughts, but it was useless with whoever was beating on him. There was a scream and it came from downstairs. The blows stopped and there was rough laugh.
"He isn't going anywhere, lets go downstairs and have some fun."
Remus looked up at the two men dressed in heavy cloaks, wizarding cloaks. He tried to see their faces, but it was too dark and he didn't recognize the voices. The scream filled the air again, Gala! He struggled against the ropes. He could feel them loosening, but they were not off yet. She was screaming again, why wouldn't these ropes come off? Malicious laughter floated up from the hall stairs as she screamed. Gala was in pain, and he wasn't there yet. Remus suddenly spread his wrists and pulled as hard as he could. The ropes stretched and he pulled his left hand out. Gala's scream had grown weak.
"Gala!"
He grabbed his wand from the bedside table and pounded down the hallway.
"Gala!" Remus was yelling.
The malicious laughter continued while Gala grew weaker. Then Remus heard it.
"Avada Kedavra!"
There was a flash of green light from the kitchen and the jeering laughter died away as Gala's muffled sobbing ended. Remus howled with anger and sprinted into the kitchen. Wisps of smoke faded into the air where the evil wizards had recently apparated. Gala lay on the floor breathing heavily. Remus lifted her head and looked over her to see if there were any damaging marks on her body.
"No... no." Remus could feel tears burning down his face.
Gala looked at him through bleary eyes as blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. Remus turned her on her side so she would stop choking on her own blood. She sputtered lightly before gripping his hand with hers. Seconds later Gala's grip lessened and she lay still.
Remus did not even realize he was screaming.
XxXxX
"She died in my arms, less than one year till we would have been married."
Molly was crying openly next to Remus. Right now though, he did not feel he could comfort her. He looked over at her and pulled his handkerchief from his pocket. Molly wiped at her eyes.
"Do-do you know who?" Molly struggled to control her voice.
"Not for sure, but I think Malfoy had something to do with it. Gala had defied him, and I think he wanted revenge." Remus stopped for a second, "And I think Lord Crian had something to do with it. I'm not too sure on the reasoning there though, other than she defied him to."
"His own daughter." Molly felt anger building.
"Three years later I lost James and Lilly to the same curse. Sirius I lost to Azkaban. And Peter to the dark side."
"Remus."
He looked at her for the first time since they had come into the living room.
"Gala would not want you to forget her, but she would not want you to think you failed her. Do you think it makes her happy to see you in pain all the time and for so long?"
"She died because I could not help her." Remus looked hurt, "did you miss that?"
"She did not die because you could not help her Remus," Molly stated, "she died because she wanted to live her life." She paused letting him think about what she had said. "You gave Gala what she wanted. She did not leave you Remus, she is still with you." Molly cleared the tea set, "think about it."
Molly left Remus sitting quietly in his own thoughts.
XxXxX
Remus changed for the night, it had been a long day. Reliving Gala's death had been very hard on him. He slipped into sleep with ease. When he woke the next morning he could remember part of his dream, and Gala had been smiling.
Finish