An Untimely Tragedy

On the night the full moon, the five-year-old twins Jerica and Jennifer Lupin saw it as a time with extended family, rather that a time when their parents and two-year-old brother went away for a night to become werewolves.

Jennifer watched the waxing and waning of the moon and had deduced that tonight was another full moon. "Jeri, guess what! Tonight's another full moon I think!"

Jerica had learned not to doubt her younger sister's intelligence when it came to book-smarts, and especially the position of the moon. "Yay! Mummy! Daddy!" she screamed.

"Yes, darling?" called back her father, running from the living room.

"Who's staying with us tonight? Is it Tonks? Or Aunt Ginny? Or maybe even Uncle Harry?!" she said with great excitement.

Remus laughed at his girls' intelligence and answered, "Your mother's flooing with Aunt Ginny right now, she'll be over in an hour, and Uncle Harry will stop by after Pro Quidditch practise."

"Yay!!" both girls cheered, Jen loving the stories Aunt Ginny would tell about Hogwarts, and Jerica enjoyed playing made up sports with her Uncle Harry, even though she knew he was letting her win.

"Why don't you two clean your play room before they come over while I get Siri ready," they're father said, knowing neither twin would comply.

"But I want to play with Siri before you all leave tonight!" Jerica whined.

"I do too!" Jennifer answered.

Remus laughed as his girls argued over who got to play with their little brother, "You can both play with him, come, he's in the living room. Both girls dashed out and Remus looked over the great mess in front of him. He decided to straighten it up a little before Harry and Ginny came over, close as they were to family, the disaster area still embarrassed him slightly. With a wave of his wand, the toys were organized, the marker stains disappeared, and spilled food gone. "Much better." He said to himself.

Remus heard the whooshing sound of the floo network and the joyful screaming of five year olds, meaning that Ginny Potter had arrived. Remus ambled downstairs to see Ginny handing small gifts to the three children, two ecstatic girls, and a placid boy. To Jen, a book, Jeri a muggle soccer ball, and Siri a set of Duplos, which he couldn't yet play with. "Thank you so much Ginny, it means so much to Aria and I, and you know how much the girls love you. And you needn't go to all the trouble of getting them gifts each time you come."

"Remus, don't worry about it. Besides, the reason the girls love me is because I bring them gifts."

Aria came in through the kitchen and laughed. Evidently she had been listening. "Ginevra Potter, don't talk like that. You know the girls love you because you're you."

"Yeah, Gin-gin, we love you! The presents are a nice bonus," Jerica joked.

Ginny bent down and hugged Jerica tightly, looking over the girl's head at her twin and little Sirius.

"It's strange," Ginny said, looking at the small boy, "how much he's like his father's friend."

Remus frowned. "I did hope I wouldn't have to deal with such a troublesome child. If he's more like Sirius than I thought, this may be difficult."

Ginny laughed. "You're terrible, Remus."

They hugged, said their goodbyes, and the three Lupins left for the forest so they could safely transform.

The twins ran over to Ginny and tugged on each of her arms, begging to play. Ginny laughed and told them she had to cook.

"Oh, can we have Spelli-O's? Or Witch Sandwiches?"

"Honeys, I promised your Mummy I'd give you something more nutritious. How about potatoes and chilli? Or maybe you'd rather have pudding and stew?"

"I want chilli," Jeri said. Jen quickly agreed, so Ginny set to work.

"So are you girls interested in any boys yet? Perhaps someone from down the street?" Ginny asked slyly.

"What?!" Jeri said incredulously.

Ginny laughed as Jeri defended herself adamantly and Jennifer remained silent on the subject.

"So I'll take that as a yes from both of you," Ginny said. As Jeri was about to protest again, she declared the food was done.

"Alright, we'll eat first, but you're gonna get quite a talking to when I'm done," Jerica said.

They ate until they were full, and they all helped clean up. The twins could hardly reach the back of the counter next to the sink at a mere height of 4 feet, but they helped as well as they could.

Just as Jerica was standing on her toes trying to fit a pot into the sink, the fireplace whirled with green and a tall young man in a T-shirt and jeans bent down low and climbed out of the fireplace with Quiddich robes in one arm.

"Harry!" Jerica shrieked. She couldn't quite get to him, because her arms were still supporting the fragile pot Ginny had cooked with. Jennifer ran towards him instead, threw her arms around him, and laughed happily.

Ginny leaned against a doorway, her arms crossed, smiling slightly. Jerica finished dealing with the dishes, and she hugged Harry around the waist. After a minute of hugging, Jerica finally released Harry and looked up at him as he gasped for air.

"And you thought an evening's practice made it hard to breathe," Ginny said, laughing.

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well…I didn't realize you were babysitting pythons. Maybe they'll end up in Slytherin after all."

"Uncle Harry!" Jen said, acting hurt.

"You know I didn't mean it," Harry said, smiling at her and giving her a piece of Fred and George's Safe and Fine Candies.

"Harry, I don't think any candy made by Fred and George would be safe…" Jen said.

"You're right, Jen. You'd better eat it with your mother around."

Ginny took that moment to walk fully into the room and hug Harry. He hugged her back, but Jerica broke them up after waiting a moment.

"That's long enough. No more hugging. I wanted to play with Harry!"

"Jeri, you're as restless as an insomniac. Are you sure you're getting enough sleep?" Ginny asked, peering at her from under her long bangs.

Jeri smiled and turned back to Harry. "Please?"

"Alright, we'll go before it gets too dark. I'll light a tree on fire or something so we have more light," he joked.

"Really Harry?" Jerica asked, awed.

Harry laughed, put a hand on her head, and ruffled her hair.

Jennifer watched as Harry and her sister went to play Quidditch. As soon as the door closed, Jen went to Ginny and asked to read something with her.

"Alright," Ginny answered, "but I was never good at reading textbooks, if that's what you've got in mind…"

Jen ran upstairs and got her copy of Hogwarts, A History. When Ginny saw it, she let out a shriek of laughter and clapped her hands joyfully.

"What is it? I didn't know you liked Hogwarts, A History…" Jennifer asked doubtfully.

"No, it's not that. It's just…I was just thinking you were like a very good friend of mine…"

Jennifer asked, "Hermione?"

"Yeah, you remember Hermione, don't you?" Ginny asked, smiling.

"I haven't seen her much…I don't see Ron much anymore either."

"Well sweetie, they're very busy. Ron's got work and Hermione's planning on teaching Arithmancy soon. That's a big job. I hope she can replace Professor Vector. He's nice and all, but I'd love to have Hermione at Hogwarts. If she had to go to Durmstrange..."

"Ginny," Jennifer asked, "aren't you teaching right now?"

"Yes, milady, that's right."

"So why don't you like reading textbooks?"

Ginny didn't take long to answer. "Well, I'm only the flying instructor, Jen. I don't have to give out assignments to teach First Years how to fly and watch the Quidditch matches."

"Oh, I see."

"I always loved school, Jen, but I wasn't ever fabulous at it. I never had the patience." Ginny smiled.

Remus carried Siri to the centre of the werewolf forest. Aria walked next to her husband, tired, knowing she would miss another night of sleep. The transformation always hurt too much to allow her to sleep.

They found a path near a river that was suitable for lying down. They sat in a circle, and waited for the moon to shine on them.

Jerica ran to the clearing in the forest, laughing as she fell and tumbled down a hill. Harry followed at a walk, running a hand through his hair every once in a while, laughing as Jerica rolled into a pile of dried leaves with an explosion of sticks and foliage.

After a still moment, Harry called, "Jeri?"

When no one answered, Harry slowly climbed down the hill, avoiding several steep places where he would be prone to fall. He was nearly to the pile of leaves when he slipped on a rock and twisted around to catch himself. Just when he stopped sliding, he found his feet buried in the pile of leaves.

Harry took a moment to catch his breath, and as he sat there, something within the leaves grabbed his foot.

Instinct from seven years' danger made him gasp and pull back, but he then realized that Jeri was just playing. He decided to play back.

"What was that?" Harry asked. The leaves quivered. "Well I'll just whip out my wand…"

Jerica sprung up from the leaves and held her arms up. Smiling.

"Wingardium Levi-"

"No, Harry! Don't!" Jerica said.

"Oh, it's just you. I thought there was a Sphynx hiding in there. I was going to float it into a tree."

Jerica laughed and held out her hand to help Harry up, but when he grabbed it to pull himself up, she couldn't help him. She pulled so hard she fell backwards into the leaves. Harry laughed, stood, and helped her up instead.

They made it to the clearing at last, took Jerica's broom out of the broom shed, a Nimbus 2000, and she kicked off.

"Harry, where's your broom?" Jerica asked, just noticing that he didn't have it with him.

"I'll summon it."

"Don't break down our door," Jerica said, worried.

"I won't," he said. "Ginny will see my broom trying to get out the door, and she'll open it for me."

When he had his broom, he kicked off the ground as well, and they threw apples at each other, Jerica taking a bite every time she got it.

After a few hours, Harry felt guilty about leaving Ginny. They went back home, where she and Jen were reading. Harry leaned down and examined the spine of the book. He read it out loud.

"Hogwarts, A History?!" he said, incredulous. "Why are you reading that?"

Ginny smiled without looking up from her book and said, "I was thinking of Hermione and Jenny here decided to read it with me."

Harry shrugged and reminded Jeri to take off her shoes.

They spent a while sitting together, reading from the book. Jeri got bored quickly, so she went into the kitchen to make them all some Jell-O, a muggle snack. Jennifer was so immersed in the book that she didn't have her share.

"It's okay," Jennifer said, waving away the food. "We'll save it for Mummy when she gets home."

Ginny sent the girls to bed and sat on the couch with Harry. They talked for a while about school and friends. They talked a lot about Ron and Hermione. They hadn't seen them in a few months. Hermione was studying and Ron was working. But they promised that they would get together every summer. And one year, they planned on spending an entire year together. Perhaps someday Ron and Hermione would buy the house next door…

Remus was human again, but he couldn't find his Aria anywhere. He could remember something that happened while he was a wolf, but he didn't know exactly what. He knew something was wrong and he feared the worst. Sirius was no where to be found either. Perhaps they were both dead. Maybe Siri had fallen off a cliff onto rocks and poor Aria was too grief-stricken to find her husband and tell him what had happened.

Remus suddenly panicked. He was terrified he would find his son dead. He ran through the forest, stumbling slightly, trying to retrace is steps from when he was a wolf. But it was useless. He didn't remember what he'd been doing during the full moon because he wasn't himself when he was a wolf.

After hours, the sun was high in the sky and Remus's panicked state was starting to make him shake. The adrenaline that was coursing through his veins for the past three hours wasn't allowing him to feel the fatigue that he should have felt. He hadn't slept, his forehead was cold with sweat, and he was a nervous wreck.

Finally, he saw Aria lying on her side with Sirius James in her arms, a wall of rock behind her. For a moment, Remus feared he was right all along, and that they had fallen. He saw a large amount of blood, and he prayed that it was an animal's, though it was so unlikely he nearly laughed. But as he felt the first bark of laughter escape him, he felt ill.

"Aria!" he shouted, hoping that if he just called her name, she would lift her head, laugh her delicate laugh, and say she was fine. "Aria, Aria!"

He heard voices beyond his sight just to his left. He ran towards them. When he reached the people, he noticed they were muggle hunters. He stared at their gun, terrified.

One of the men's head was hanging down, and he was staring at his own feet. The other was sitting on a trunk, looking towards Remus.

"What did you do?!" Remus asked. He was being irrational, yes, but he couldn't help it.

The men looked startled. They began to explain hastily that they were attacked.

"You shot her, didn't you?" he said, though he didn't really need to ask.

"She…I thought she was a wolf!" one of them explained.

"She was a wolf!"

"We were scared-"

"We shot it-"

"Shut up!"

Remus had never been so shaken. He had heard of his friends dying. He had heard of Sirius going to jail. He had seen so much. Sirius dying….but this…this was too much.

"I'm sorry, did you know her?" one man asked.

"She's my…she's," Remus couldn't finish. He felt like if he said that she was his wife, she'd be dead. He was superstitious for the first time in his life.

He ran back to her, as if his presence could change things. As he reached her, he saw Sirius stir. He was alive. He wasn't hurt at all, though the right side of his face was covered in blood. Remus took little Siri in his arms and held him. There was a piece of Aria still with him.

Of course, Aria herself might still be alive. But he wouldn't entertain that thought because he was worried he might curse himself. He leaned down and examined her side, where she was shot.

"It wasn't a…normal bullet…"

Someone from Remus's left was talking. It was the man who shot her, who "thought she was a wolf".

"What do you mean?" Remus asked in a strained voice.

"It was…silver."

Remus's stomach clenched. He let out a low groan and fell to his knees onto the grass. "Nooo…nooo…"

He held onto Siri with one arm and held his dead wife in the other. He held her head against his shoulder and wouldn't move for a long time. He wasn't sure just how long he sat there, but he didn't care.

Eventually, he let go of her, set her down, and looked at her necklace. He held the pendant in his hand, rubbing his thumb across it. And as he did so, the pendant started glowing. He watched it with wide eyes as it seemed to split into two necklaces. Both had the initials JKL inscribed on them.

Remus remembered his son receiving his ring. But this was…different. Aria didn't get to keep her necklace. It was as if fate decided to erase her from existence by taking away her family symbol. Remus felt ill. He pocketed the necklaces that he knew were for the twins, stood up, and took a few steps away from Aria's body. Finally, he let out his intense grief and fell to the ground, lying with his head in his arms.

Harry and Ginny woke up before the twins. Remus and Aria let them use the couches to sleep on when they were gone. Harry now sat up, fixed the couch cushions, and began to cook.

Ginny woke the twins, and they ate breakfast. A heavy fog had settled in the area, though the radio told them that it was only in the area. Remus probably wouldn't know how gloomy the weather was until he got home.

As they got out a miniature Quidditch model to play with, Harry was obviously worried.

"What is it?" Jerica asked Harry.

"Remus and Aria usually don't take this long, do they?"

Jerica frowned. "No, but they'll be okay. They're always okay."

It was past noon before Jerica herself began to get fairly agitated. She started pacing back and forth near the fire place, obviously very worried.

Jennifer and Ginny were about to join Jerica in her ritualistic pacing when they heard a hard hollow knock on the front door.

Harry was to the door first, and he threw it open with such a worried look on his face that Jerica was already scared.

Her father was at the door, grief easily read on his face for the first time she'd ever seen. He held Sirius.

Jerica glanced them over, then realized that her mother was not there. Where was her mum? Where was the person who brought her up, the one she identified with as much as her twin? "Where?" was all Jerica could say, for her throat was tight.

Harry and Ginny stood together, Harry's arm wrapped around her as if he were going to lose her. He asked Remus if he wanted to tell the girls first, but Remus didn't seem to understand the question. Ginny took Sirius from him because he seemed to be holding the boy too tightly. He walked in past the four of them and sat in his big armchair with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

"Remus?" Ginny asked, tears springing up in her eyes.

Remus looked like he would cry as well. Jerica found this extremely disturbing. Her father, her foundation in life, wasn't swayed by anything. He was solid, flawless. How could something make him break down like this? It was like seeing Jenny destroy her books…for their father kept his balance through his firm belief that humanity, while flawed, was beautiful just as Jenny kept her balance through the solidity of books.

"Daddy!" Jerica yelled, running to him and hugging him around the neck. Jennifer followed suit and hugged him as well, and he hugged them back strongly enough that Jerica knew he must have thought of losing them as well, sometime during the day.

Jerica had in fact come to the conclusion that her mother was gone. She didn't need someone to scream it at her because she knew these things. Jennifer looked as if she needed more proof. Perhaps, Jerica thought, she could write it down for her later.

A laugh almost burst out of her, but it turned abruptly into a sob. Sometimes the humour of life intertwined itself with such horror and sorrow that it scared Jerica.

Sometime during this exchange, Remus told them that her mother was gone. Jennifer had cried for hours, sobbing into their father's shoulder. Jerica had admired her. Jeri respected her sister for accepting their mother's death because she herself didn't feel it yet. She looked towards the door every few hours to make sure she wasn't walking in the door.

Ginny and Harry had hugged them and left early on, unable to intrude upon family grief. Jeri had watched them go, staring but not saying anything, while Jennifer apologized for no reason.

Jerica went to bed that night without dinner, though she didn't feel hungry or tired. Jennifer asked to sleep in the living room on the couch that night, with her father in his chair. Jerica reflected that they probably felt safer that way. But she herself wanted to be alone.

She threw herself onto her bed without changing, chanting to herself, "Mum's gone, Mum's gone," but it never hit her. She would have thought that she would cry the moment she lost her dear mother. But now that she was gone, there was just an empty space that could never be filled completely again.

She thought of herself, motherless. Uncle Harry didn't have family, but Ginny did. Both of them turned out fine. That was reassuring.

Jeri got bored quickly, so she went into the kitchen to make them all some Jell-O, a muggle snack. Jennifer was so immersed in the book that she didn't have her share.

"It's okay," Jennifer said, waving away the food. "We'll save it for Mummy when she gets home."

But she had wanted her own children to have a grandmother. How was that possible now?

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, well…I didn't realize you were babysitting pythons. Maybe they'll end up in Slytherin after all."

"Uncle Harry!" Jen said, acting hurt.

"You know I didn't mean it," Harry said, smiling at her and giving her a piece of Fred and George's Safe and Fine Candies.

"Harry, I don't think any candy made by Fred and George would be safe…" Jen said.

"You're right, Jen. You'd better eat it with your mother around."

Jerica started crying, not out of self-pity but because the twist of fate that ruled the world was sometimes too cruel.