§ The next morning, at the Order's Headquarters at Number 12 Grimmauld Place §
With a soft kiss to her still sleeping husband's cheek, Molly Weasley got up and quickly put on a dressing gown. It was morning, well rather dawn at that, but Harry hadn't come back yet. She had demanded to be woken up the very moment he arrived and as nobody had come to wake her -not that it would have been necessary, because she had tossed and turned around the whole night, not being able to sleep - he had to be still somewhere out there on the battle field.
Albus had promised her, that they would go searching for him this morning and galloping Gargoyles wouldn't be able to keep her here and let them go without her. She simply had to be a member of the search party. She was as good as Harry's mother and she had to find him and make sure that he was all right. The sooner the better.
But the only thing she could do at the moment, was waiting for Albus and the others to wake up, which wouldn't be for another hour at least. It was scarcely 5 o'clock, hardly a proper time for anyone to be already awake. Considering the long night they had had, with exhausted and injured fighters in need of medical care, apparating in until well past midnight, it was to be expected that everyone would stay in bed as long as possible. Except for herself, of course, but she was used to getting up early and wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.
Determined, she walked down the stairs to the kitchen and began to prepare breakfast for everyone. That would keep her busy for a while and hopefully distract her thoughts from her worries about Harry.
They hadn't heard any news concerning him or the Dark Lord. Both hadn't been seen since the late afternoon yesterday. At least, it seemed like the Order had accomplished to capture all of the Death Eaters, but before they knew for sure that Voldemort was dead and wouldn't return again, nobody dared to celebrate.
Molly would be so glad to hear that You-Know-Who was destroyed and Harry was alive and back here again.
Once someone would tell her that the war was finally over, she would first bake a cake, big enough to feed the whole Order with. Then when everyone was stuffed with cake, she would grab Arthur and the bottle of finest Ogden's Old Firewhisky she had savoured for exactly that occasion and privately celebrate with him for the next three days.
She planned it to be something like a second honeymoon for them, maybe resulting into her bearing another little Weasley girl or boy. She would like to have another child, now that all of her children were adults and didn't really needed her anymore, to look after them.
Molly had thought about it for some time now, but it wasn't save, as long as they were still in the middle of a war, to get pregnant again. She had already experienced how it was to bear a child during a war with Ron and later also with Ginny, who both had been born during Voldemorts first attempt to take over the wizarding world. She hadn't wanted to go through that another time. The permanent fear for her unborn child, fear that they would be attacked, would be killed, because she couldn't defend herself and hers properly, during the final few months of the pregnancy.
But once the war would be over and they would be save once more, it would be nice to have a little one to look after. Yes, that was her big plan for when the Dark Lord would be gone for good. She hoped with every fibre of her being that it would be soon.
§§§
Sirius woke up groaning. He had to admit, that he slowly was becoming to old for spending most of the night crammed into a wooden chair. His whole body was protesting, several of his muscles ached and he was entirely too stiff. He groggily opened his eyes to find Remus awake and looking at him from the bed. Once his still sleepy brain registered what he was seeing, he wanted to bounce with joy, but his aching body wouldn't allow him to do that anytime soon. So he settled for leaning forward and pressing a smacking kiss on his startled lover's lips.
"Moony, you're awake!" Sirius exclaimed after he was finished kissing Remus. "That means you feel better, right?" he asked.
"You know Padfoot, you could warn a guy before suddenly attacking him like that," Remus said chuckling. "It isn't very polite to pounce on a poor injured werewolf and start kissing him."
"You're joking, sure sign that you're feeling better again," Sirius said, a big smile lighting up his entire face.
"Yes, Sirius, I do feel better. Not exactly as good as new, but better," Remus said. "Did you catch the herd of rampaging Hippogriffs that hit me?" he asked mock seriously. "Because I surely feel like it. As if it was the day after the full moon and I didn't take my wolfsbane in time."
"You know, what hit you was actually a Stunning spell mixed with some nasty curse we couldn't identify. You made me worry pretty much, when you wouldn't wake up," Sirius said.
"I'm sorry about having frightened you," Remus said, gently taking his lovers hand in his. "I promise it won't happen again."
Sirius snorted. "Tell that your grandmother Moony, trouble somehow manages to find you far too often for my taste."
"And that is coming from the one who nearly got himself killed during Voldemort's attack on the ministry, because he had to rush in without thinking about possible consequences first, to save his godson, who wasn't actually in danger at that time. If I hadn't shoved you out of the way from Bellatrix curse in time..." Remus countered.
"Will you rub that under my nose forever? That has been years ago and I have learned my lesson then. First thinking, then acting. As you let me repeat until that phrase started to even haunt me in my dreams," Sirius said. He pressed a kiss on Remus hand. "I'm so glad that you're still among us, I wouldn't know what to do without you."
Remus pulled him closer so that his lips could reach Sirius' mouth, his hands tangled into the Animagus' long black hair, to hold him in place. They shared another kiss. Tongues licking, tasting, exploring, battling for dominance, desperate to rediscover familiar territory and claim it once again. They didn't stopped kissing until breathing became an issue and they had separate reluctantly.
"I'm glad, that I'm still here with you, too," Remus said a little breathlessly afterwards. "Wouldn't want to travel to the afterlife without my favourite canine in tow, to explore it with me," he added.
"Oh Moony," Sirius said and shock his head, smiling sadly. "You know I would follow you everywhere, even to a place as far away as that."
"I know Sirius, but I hope there is still some time left until we'll have to leave for that journey. There are so much things we have to do, first. I want to travel the world, once the war is over. Like I did when you were taken away from me, but this time I'm going to take you along with me. There are so many beautiful places I want to show you. I want to chase you through the jungles, climb on the highest mountains with you and once we are tired of travelling, I want to settle down somewhere and grow old with you."
"Yes, Remus, I want to do all that with you too, once the war is over."
Remus looked at Sirius, smiling. Their gazes met and promises were silently exchanged, promises of a future, they intended to spend together. Finally, Remus broke the eye contact and asked the questions, which had lain on his tongue since he had woken up. Suddenly he wasn't sure anymore if he wanted to hear the answers to them, but he needed to know anyway. "How does matters stand? Has Harry achieved to defeated Voldemort? Is the battle still going on?"
"We don't know. The Death Eaters are either captured or killed, but we haven't heard anything about Harry or Voldemort, since yesterday afternoon. It's as if the two of them have suddenly disappeared somehow. We are going to look for Harry later this morning, I hope, that we'll find him still alive." Sirius said.
"I wish I could go with you." Remus said, assuringly squeezing his lover's hand. "But as I'll have to stay here for some longer, I can only accompany you with my thoughts. I'm sure you're going to find him."
"But what if we don't? What if he's dead? I couldn't live with the knowledge that I would have been able to help him if I had been there, but decided to stay with you instead. He is my godson, it's my duty to look after him."
"You could have done nothing Padfoot. It is his destiny to defeat Voldemort, not yours. You wouldn't have been able to relieve him of that burden even if you had been there. The prophecy allows no interference, it has to be the two of them in the end."
"But..." Sirius broke off, Remus was, as always, right. If you looked at it this way, his presence wouldn't have made any difference.
"I think you should get going now, love," Remus said. "Go looking for Harry. I know you, you won't get any peace before you find him."
"Is it okay if I leave you alone? I'd rather not be going too far away from you at the moment," Sirius said.
"Go, already. I'll be perfectly fine on my own for a few hours. I'm tired anyway."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Now go before I use that Floo hex on you, if you remember how that itched the last time, you won't want to risk it."
Sirius tried to look horrified at that, it wasn't entirely an act. He still remembered scratching his skin raw, because it wouldn't stop to itch. He had played an embarrassing prank on Remus during their 6th year at Hogwarts and the werewolf had used that particular spell, to make Sirius pay for it.
The flee wouldn't go away despite everything he tried to get rid of them, it had been horrible. Fortunately Remus had had pity on him after two days and had given him a special anti-floo potion, otherwise he would probably have become insane. It was the last time he had tried to prank Remus, the effects simply weren't worth it.
Sirius stood up and quickly pressed a good-bye kiss to his lover's lips. "Sweet Dreams, Moony," he said before he went downstairs to look for the others.
§§§
As he entered the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was already busy cooking breakfast. As soon as he sat down at the table, she levitated a plate with fried bacon and scrambled eggs over to him. "Thanks, Molly," he said. "Are the others already awake?"
"No, you're the first to come here. They are probably still sleeping," she answered.
"Do you think we will find Harry in time?" he asked. Sirius was still worried about the possibility of his godson being bonded to Snape. He hadn't mentioned anything about the link to Remus, not wanting to upset his lover about something, that might not happen if they could help it. He simply needed to prevent it. Snivellus should stay well away from Harry, if he savoured his continued existence.
"I hope so," Molly answered. "I really hope that we do."
They couldn't speak about it further, because Tonks choose that moment to stumble inside. Her hair was rainbow coloured for a change and she looked pretty tired. "Morning, guys," she said before falling into a chair. "Is there any coffee around, Molly, 'cause I could use a really big cup of it, right now."
Molly filled a cup with coffee and added sugar and milk to it. She levitated it to Tonks, who grabbed it as soon as it was within reach and began to gulp it down. "Thank you, Molly you're the best, 't was exactly what I needed."
"Do you want a refill?" Molly asked.
"Sure, the more coffee, the better my chances to stay awake." Tonks answered, holding out her cup for the nearby hovering coffee-pot to do its duty. Molly came over to them with two plates. Placing one in front of Tonks, she sat down too and began to eat.
Soon Albus and Hermione joined them in the kitchen and sat down to eat, Hermione was quietly chatting with Tonks and Molly while she emptied her plate. Ron, as Hermione told them, was still sleeping. He had apparently killed Draco Malfoy in the battle yesterday. It had been the first time for him to use the killing curse on a human being and even if he had never liked Malfoy, it had been difficult to use it on someone he knew, had a history with, instead of some faceless stranger. He would need some time to cope with it and Hermione had decided not to wake him.
Arthur came down too. He was unusually quiet, just sitting there and sipping on his tea. Harry's absence troubled him as much as it did his wife and after what she had told him last night, about the possibility of a permanent bonding with Snape, he wanted to join the search party to hopefully find them in time to prevent it, if they were still alive.
After they all had finished eating, Albus addressed them: "As Harry and Severus haven't come back last night and nobody has reported them dead, we are going to search for them now. This isn't an official mission, so I will force none of you to accompany me. Everyone who wants to be a member of the search party, should raise their hand now."
Everyone present raised a hand, they all wanted to help, despite their exhaustion.
"I knew I could count on you, my children. Well, now that that's settled, you may go back to your rooms to change. We will meet here in...I think half an hour will be sufficient." Albus said. The Headmaster looked tired this morning, as if he hadn't been able to sleep much last night too.
They all left the kitchen to dress quickly and gather the things, they would need.
After the half hour had passed and the six of them were once more gathered in the kitchen, they apparated to the battlefield, near to the place where Harry had last been seen. There they separated into pairs of two, to cover a bigger area in their search for any signs on Harry's and Snape's whereabouts.
Molly and Arthur went together, of course. They had chosen to cover the woods to the left. Once they had reached their destination, they began to scan the ground for any tracks, burn marks or anything else that would help them. Both of them had drawn their wands out of its holsters, in case they would find something. It had been decided that whoever found any clues on where Harry or Snape had disappeared to, would shoot red sparks up in the air to alert the rest of the search party, to join them.
They had been wandering the area for about an hour, when they saw a fountain of red sparks rise over the trees to their left. The couple immediately went to whomever had summoned them. Only to find Sirius and Hermione standing there and pressing their raised hands against thin air.
"What are you two doing?" Molly asked puzzled.
"There seems to be something there Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said. "Some kind of barrier that prevents us from going further into this direction. Here stretch out your hand to feel for yourself."
"She's right Molly," Sirius added. "There's really something there and it reeks of power."
Molly tentatively did as Hermione had said and her hand did indeed meet a powerful resistance. Her husband followed her lead and after touching it too, came to the same result. There was an invisible wall, but how? And why?
Then Dumbledore and Tonks, who had been further away when they saw the signal, arrived.
"What's going on here?" Tonks asked, as soon as she came within hearing range. "Why are the four of you standing there like zombies?"
"Would someone enlighten me please, about what is going on here?" Dumbledore too, asked curiously, once he saw their odd positions.
"Professor Dumbledore, it looks like there is something invisible, a barrier of some sort, blocking the way. I don't know exactly what it is at the moment. I suspect something, but I'll have to look it up in a couple of books first," Hermione said.
The Headmasters eyes sparked with recognition at her words, his expression became darker as he started speaking: "That shall not be necessary my child. I am afraid, that I already know what it is. Of course, there always was the chance that this could happen, but I doubted that it would. The possibility exists only in magical theory and as it hadn't occurred before, I thought that it also wouldn't occur this time."
"What does that mean, Albus? What is it?" Arthur asked anxiously.
"The Murus Intermundus. The wall that exists between different realities. Somehow it has travelled from its usual place, to where we are standing right now," Dumbledore answered him, obviously deep in thoughts about something.
A/N: Read it? Enjoyed it? Please review! I hope I'll have the next chapter finished by this weekend, but as I am a bit busy with RL right now, I sadly can't promise anything.