AAll Alone?
Chappie number 4
THANK YOU TO MY FIRST REVIEWERS! STINKY STAN AND KAHUNA!!!! I'm glad you liked the story. Oh, and if you've noticed that the third chapter was a little wierd, I accidentally loaded the wrong chapter into it. Sorry for that mistake. I fixed it so you can re-read chapter three if you like.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and stuff you've seen in the HP books, yada yada yada...
Here I am at 5:08 a.m. working on this, because I've been too lazy to take my sleeping pills. Sirius, thankfully, is sleeping and won't be interrupting me, provided I don't get too loud. Well, let's go.
Chapter 4
"All right, Vi. Now, hit me as hard as you can."
"No way! I'm not going to hit you!"
It was 6:30 in the morning in a large spare room in the Burrow, where Remus was teaching Violet how to fight. Remus had conjured several punching bags, gloves, a weight set, some jump ropes, a pull-up bar, and a rope to climb. They were standing face-to-face, fists raised in the center of a mat.
Remus sighed, shoving his hair out of his eyes. "Violet, I have to see how good you punch, like where you need improvement and such." when she still refused to hit him, he pulled out his wand. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll put a charm on these gloves. That way, I'll be able to feel the force of the punch, but you won't be able to hurt me." He tossed her the gloves. "Now, will you cooperate?"
Violet sighed and pulled the gloves on.
"Good." Remus said. "Now, pretend you're mad at me. I don't know, er... pretend I just insulted Sirius!"
Violet's eyes narrowed. The fact that he'd mentioned Sirius had done it. She brought her arm back, and swung it forward, stepping into the swing so as to throw her whole body weight into the punch. It connected cleanly with Remus's jaw and he fell to the ground. After recovering from the shock, Remus gasped, "Just what did he teach you?!"
"Enough to know to step forward and throw your body weight into the punch." Violet took off one of the gloves and extended a hand to help Remus up.
"Thanks." He muttered. "So, your punching's good, so far. But, I want to teach you different methods of hitting. For instance, if you want to provoke your opponent, which I wouldn't recommend doing unless you absolutely have to, you could try slapping with your open hand. It's the same as a punch. You throw your whole body into it, and it will hurt." He tossed her a pair of thin leather gloves that he had charmed. "Try it on me."
violet looked apprehensive, but slapped him hard, causing Remus's head to jerk to the opposite direction. "Not bad." He said. "You can also try jabbing. Do it repeatedly; once won't hurt anyone." He demonstrated on the punching bag, which would yell everytime he hit it. He stepped aside so as to allow Violet room to demonstrate. She hit hard enough for the bag to complain, "Now, really, do you have to hit so hard?"
"Not bad again. However, the rest of your body has to remain a bit rigid. Not so stiff that you're not flexible anymore, but you don't want to lose control and miss completely, or maybe fall on your face. Not remotely good for winning these things. That's it. Stand stiff like that, good. Now try it."
This time, the bag yelped in pain, cursing at her after she was done. She looked over at Remus, who smiled. "Very good, Violet. Very good. Now, I want to move on to blocking."
For the next hour or so, Remus taught Violet how to block numerous punches, trying them out on her, only managing to hit her once with the charmed gloves. Even then, he hastened forward to help her up. "Are you okay? I didn't hit too hard, did I?"
Violet sighed, exasperated. "I'm fine! The gloves are charmed, remember?"
He looked sheepish. "I guess I'm just paranoid I'll hurt you."
"I don't think if someone tries to hit me they're going to ask me if I'm okay." She picked up her watch from the floor. "Almost eight o' clock... I guess we'd better go shower and get ready for breakfast. They'll wonder where we are."
Violet beat Remus to the shower and for his sake, only took about five minutes in the shower, dressed quickly, and was out before he could knock on the door.
She sat down at the table, as the Weasleys slowly filtered into the kitchen. As Mrs. Weasley Summoned eggs and butter and sausages, Violet got up to help. Mrs. Weasley noticed and said, "Oh, no dear, you don't have to help me. I'll get along fine on my own. Do sit down and rest."
It took a lot more persuading, but Violet agreed to sit down and wait. Ron sat down on one side of her. "You okay?" he said quietly.
"Of course I'm okay!" she said, playfully smacking him. "I'm here, eating a decent meal, actually enjoying the rest of my summer. I'm among people that actually give a damn about me. Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Just checking." Ron said hastily. "You know I worry about you."
"Well, don't. I'm doing fine, really I am." And she meant it. Remus sat down on the opposite side of her, looking a bit tired from the training session. Seeing Violet's worried glance, he said, carefully choosing his words, as he didn't want everyone to know he was training Violet. They might let it slip to someone. "I've just been working out this morning and I'm a little rusty, as I haven't worked out in a while. I'll be up to speed soon enough."
Violet wasn't entirely convinced, but let it go when Mrs. Weasley handed out plates covered in food, Violet's threatening to spill onto the floor. Remus laughed. "Wow, Molly. With all this food you've been making, we might have Violet almost to a decent weight by the end of the summer."
"Oh, shut up." she muttered, digging into the plate. Even though she'd had three large meals and a couple snacks the day before, she was ravenous. After convincing Mrs. Weasley that she didn't need a third helping, she got up and ventured into the living room, Remus following her. Albus Dumbledore was again, standing in the middle of the room.
"I need to discuss something with the two of you. Would you sit down?" He gestured to the comfortable, worn couch, where they both sat down warily. "Thank you." He cleared his voice. "Now, as you both know, Violet can not return to Privet Drive. You have Remus to thank for that. He insisted that you don't return. It is finally decided that Remus will take you in, provided that we take several cautions."
Violet was so stunned that she didn't say a word, only gaping at Dumbledore. He continued. "One, you will be sent a supply of Wolfsbane Potion every month. Violet, it is up to you to ensure that he drinks it at least a week previous to the full moon. Two, you will have to register to become an Animagus. This will take months to do, as only the most skilled witches and wizards have accomplished it. And Remus's friends." A smile played at his lips. "You will be allowed to transform during the full moon, and only during the full moon. The house and your progress will be monitered. Professor McGonagall will be instructing you on becoming an Animagus. Three, Remus will be training you, not only in Wizard dueling, but Muggle dueling, as well. There will be a certain time during the day when you will practice magical dueling, and again, you will be closely monitored. Do you accept these terms?"
"With all do respect, sir," Violet found her voice finally. "But are you mad? Of course, I accept! I want to live with Remus! If... if he'll take me of course." She looked up at Remus.
"Are YOU mad?" he said with a grin. "Of course, I want to take you in! Why wouldn't I?" He bit back laughter at the look on her face, before she pounced on him, hugging him so tightly he had to gasp for breath.
"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" she shouted, her voice muffled from her face being pressed against Remus's shoulder.
When she finally pulled away, she was grinning so hard, her cheeks were getting sore, but she couldn't stop for the life of her. It was as though she'd sucked up a lung's worth of laughing gas.
Remus had to fight to keep himself from smiling as big as Violet was. He was ecstatic that she was coming to live with him, but he was more pleased at Violet's joy that she was to live with him. It felt good to have someone fully appreciate his presence.
Dumbledore smiled at the scene but continued, "You will have to attend a court hearing regarding the paperwork and terms to the agreement. Don't look so scared, Violet. It's not a disciplinary hearing like last time."
Violet relaxed. She had just freaked out that she was to attend another hearing. She would have happily attended a dozen hearings if it meant that she could stay with Remus.
Just then, the Weasley's burst in. "Mum and Dad've just given us the good news!" Fred yelled, picking Violet up again and spinning her around so fast she squealed like a prep. "You're not going back to live with those bastards!" His face dropped at his mother's icy glare. "Sorry, mum, I mean, I mean--"
"What he means to say, mum," George elbowed Fred. "She's not going to live with those sorry excuses for humans?"
"Well said, George!" Fred said thankfully, dropping Violet.
"I think a celebration is in order!" Charlie said with a grin. "Firewhiskey for everyone!"
"CHARLIE WEASLEY, DON'T YOU DARE!" Mrs. Weasley screeched.
"I mean, wine for the adults, butterbeer for the, er, adolescents." He said hastily.
That night everyone was happy. Remus and Violet had grins pasted on their faces all night. The Weasleys were wringing Violets hand all night. Finally, everyone began getting drowsy, and slowly filed off to bed, leaving Remus and Violet alone downstairs.
"Remus," Violet began. "Are you really sure you want to do this?"
"What are you talking about, Violet?" Remus looked hurt. "Why wouldn't I want to do this? Why would you assume that?"
"Rem, I don't want you to get hurt." Violet said shakily. "I've had enough people get hurt because of me, and I don't want to add you to the list."
"Violet." Remus grasped her shoulders tightly. "Look at me. Violet, no one got hurt because of you. Do you understand me? No one. I wouldn't be at risk because I took care of you. I risk my life every time I do an assignment for the Order. I risk my life every time I deliver an important message for Dumbledore. Even if you were a threat to me, I'd take you in anyway. It'd be worth the risk."
"Remus, I've already lost Sirius to them." She stared him in the face. "I can't lose you too."
"Violet, you'll never lose me." His voice had turned soft. "I don't care if I've died or lived forever. I'll always be here for you, whenever you need me. Don't ever forget that."
He loosened his grip on her shoulders, and pulled her gently into his arms. As he held her loosely, patting her on the head, he could just make out the words, "I never even got to say goodbye to him."
"Vi..." He said soothingly. "We're not meant to say goodbye. It was never intended that we should part from those we love."
"Dumbledore said that once." Violet said with a bit of laughter in her voice.
"Yeah. That's, er, where I got it from. I must admit, Dumbledore knows what he's talking about."
"Yeah..." Violet lapsed into silence. It did comfort her though, to know that Sirius had never truly left her. She managed to go to sleep that night, still leaning on Remus, her head on his shoulder, without crying or waking up screaming all night.
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Over the next two weeks, Violet developed a new routine. Get up at 4:30 in the morning, slip on a bikini, shorts, a tank top, and trainers, go outside and run around the Weasley's yard, which was estimated to be about a square mile. She would then take off her clothes and swim a few laps around the pond, get out, and run another mile until she was dry. She would then return to the workout room, where Remus would often find her stretching, doing pullups, climbing the rope, or pounding the snot out of the punching bag. At first, she found it rather difficult to run a mile at 4:30, swim several laps, then run another mile, and continue with training, but in time, it grew easier. Remus had moved from teaching her how to punch and block as she grew better and better at it to different methods of kicking. When she successfully got Remus in the head with a spinning kick (one that took forever to learn) they moved on to tricks like escaping a headlock, and other various things. Remus said he'd never been prouder of her progress.
However, one morning, Violet found herself being waken up by whispering voices. She could dimly make out, "Try shooting water at her with your wand, Fred."
Violet fought a smile, and instead faked a little groan, rolling to the side.
"Shut up, George! You'll wake her." She heard a smack, and a curse, followed by a small scuffle. Now seemed like the best time.
"STOP MAKING SO MUCH NOISE! I'M SLEEPING!" she roared like a banshee, pretty good for someone who'd just woke up.
The look on their faces was completely priceless. Fred had hold of Ron's collar and had his fist raised. Ron's hands were still in front of his face, which was turned towards Violet. Remus was standing in the doorway, looking amused at this scene. "You were awake the whole time, Violet. I saw you."
"Shhh..." She shook her head very obviously. "I've been ASLEEP." She put a lot of emphasis on the word.
Remus snorted. "Right." He strolled over to the sofa, and seized her by the wrist. "Now, get up. Come into the kitchen."
She protested, but he dragged her over to the kitchen door. "Wait..." He pulled out his wand, flicked it, and a bandana fastened itself around Violet's eyes.
"Remus, this is rediculous." She tried tugging the bandana off, but it refused to be pulled off. "What are you doing?"
"Just come in the kitchen. There's a surprise for you. You're going to ruin it."
She sighed, but allowed Remus to lead her into the kitchen and sit her down. She felt the bandana come off, and, on cue, the Weasleys all shrieked, "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VIOLET!"
Violet gasped at the enormous chocolate cake, and the huge stack of gifts on the table. "I'd completely forgotten it was my birthday!" she said truthfully.
"Well, are you gonna open them?" Charlie said impatiently, shoving her a stack of boxes.
"Okay?" She said unsurely, choosing the one on top, from Ginny, which turned out to be a platinum charm bracelet with four beautiful charms: a dog, which obviously represented Sirius, a stag, a wolf, and a lone girl with long hair. "Oh, Ginny..." she said softly. "It's beautiful..."
"I knew you liked silver," Ginny blushed almost as red as her hair. "but I knew since you were going to live with Remus, it was out of the question. So I got platinum instead."
"I love it!" she said breathlessly, pulling it on. "It'll go with my locket!" (More about the locket later) Ginny beamed. Violet reached for the next one.
"That one's from us." Fred put in helpfully.
It turned out to be two huge boxes full of trick wands, Canary Creams, Portable Swamps, Skiving Snackboxes, and such. Violet could tell it would come in incredibly handy for the next year. "Thanks, guys!" Violet grinned, clapping George on the back.
"Open mine," Bill said, shoving his toward her. "You might find that handy..."
Violet tore it open and gasped again. It was the knife she'd gotten from Sirius, only it was intact. The blade was no longer melted, instead it was the way it was before it had melted. When she flicked it open, the blade popped out, as long and hard (haha, LONG and HARD. Yes. I know, I'm disgusting...) as before.
"I found the melted parts around that door ages ago, and I managed to mold it and freeze it to make it the way it was bef-- whoa!" He laughed as Violet threw her arms around his neck.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" she screeched.
"Wow. I knew you'd like it, but I wasn't expecting that much of a reaction." Bill looked very pleased.
"Okay, now it's my turn," said Charlie. "Open it, Vi!"
She had a slight idea what his may be. But nevertheless, pretended to look clueless. She was right. In fancy wooden case, lay a brand new Quaffle, two quivering Bludgers, and a Golden Snitch. "Yes!" she said with a grin. "I've been wanting my own set. We can try it out later today."
She opened Mrs. Weasley's gift, which was a home-made tee shirt with a V on it, and an enormous box of fudge brownies. "Thank you, Mrs. W." she said, pulling the tee shirt on over the tank top she was wearing and taking a huge bite out of a brownie.
Mr. Weasley's gift was surprisingly, a Sony Discman and a stack of alternative rock CD's. "Wow. How did you know I love AFI?" She said with a smile.
"I've bewitched it so it won't need bat-bat-whatd'youcallems or eclectic cords." He said quietly. "Maybe you could show me how it works sometime?"
"Sure, Mr. Weasley." She bit back laughter. "Thanks."
Ron's gift was rather small. It turned out to be a photograph of himself, Hermione, and Violet in their first year. She laughed at how little they all were. "Oh, Ron..." she hugged him tighter than ever. "It's wonderful!"
Ron hugged her back, overjoyed that she loved his gift. Last was supposed to be Remus, but suddenly a figure with bushy hair slid out of the fireplace onto the floor. Standing up quickly, she brushed herself off, and threw her arms around Violet. "Oh, I'm so sorry I'm late! I got lost on the way here, and landed in some couple's living room while they were snogging! Oh, stop laughing, you guys! It's not funny." She turned towards Violet again. "Oh here's your gift."
It turned out to be, of course, a book. Violet looked skeptically at it's blank pages. "This isn't another homework diary, is it?"
"No. It's a journal. One that only you can open, by asking it to open itself. If anyone else tries to open it, it'll attack them."
"Thanks, Hermione! This'll probably come in handy."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you the best part!" Hermione pulled out a second one, and tossed it to Remus. "Now, if you each carry it on you all the time, you can communicate with each other. All you have to do is just call for the other person, and if they say your name, it means they accept and your faces will appear on whatever page, and you can talk to each other. So it doubles as a journal and a communicator. Oh, and the other person can't read what you wrote." She looked very pleased with herself.
"Excellent, Hermione!" Violet said, high-fiving Hermione.
"That kicks the crap out of my gift." shrugged Ginny.
"Remus, you're next," Mrs. Weasley said, handing her Remus's gift.
"Wait, Vi." Remus pulled her aside. "You may want to open that one later. Alone."
She sensed that it was a rather sentimental gift, so she nodded and stowed it away in her trunk, much to the annoyance of the Weasleys.
That day was the best Violet had ever had. Following the presents, they all had a very unhealthy breakfast of chocolate cake, then went outside to play Quidditch with Violet's new set. Violet's team won seven times, and Ginny's won twice.
They didn't even have lunch, instead playing all the way up until dinnertime.
Dinnertime was, of course, loud and cheery as always. Violet sat next to Remus, who was either talking with her in a kind of code about what he would teach her tomorrow for training, or having the usual discussion about goblins with Mr. Weasley and Bill. Mrs. Weasley was scolding the twins after the third time they'd slipped a Canary Cream into Ron's potatoes. Mr. Weasley was playing with several batteries, looking thoroughly embarrassed every time he saw Violet looking at him oddly. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were whispering excitedly. From what Violet could hear, she gathered they were trying to figure out just what Remus had gotten Violet. As a matter of fact, Violet was having immense difficulty not running up to Ginny's room and ripping open the gift herself. But she controlled herself until 8:30, after the exausted Weasleys, Remus, and Hermione had all gone to bed. Then, curiosity got the best of her and she opened her trunk, and unwrapped the package.
There was a letter addressed to her, in a horribly and painfully familiar handwriting. It was dated 2 January 2003.
Dear Violet, it began. I want to apologize to you for making such a scene yesterday in the kitchen. I didn't mean to scare you when I got so angry with Snape. And I'm sorry for pushing you and Harry out of the way when you got in the middle of it. It was just that Snape made me so mad when he insulted you two as well as James. Vi, you and Harry are all I have in this world, and I couldn't bear it if anything was to happen to you. Moony's my best friend, but even he can't compare with you and Harry. I also did want to tell you to be careful and study Occlumency as hard as you can. I know, I know you hate Snape almost half as much as I do. But you're going to have to grin and bear it. As big a buffoon as he is, he could save your life. Please take my advice on this one.
Sirius
P.S. I love you, Violet.
Tears poured down her face upon reading this, and she carefully folded it back up and slipped it into the bottom of her trunk. Next, after the letter was a small photo album. Each picture featured the Marauders, although Peter Pettigrew had been blasted off of each page for obvious reasons. Most of the pictures showed a young Sirius and James wrestling and horsing around, sometimes mussing their hair, and occasionally flipping the bird with cocky grins on their faces. Remus was normally lurking near the edge of the frame with an embarrassed grin on his face, laughing at something Sirius had said, or occasionally reading an enormous book. Violet was reminded forcefully of Hermione.
Violet had tears in her eyes as she looked at the last picture. It was of Sirius and James at the wedding, grinning with their arms casually draped around each other's shoulders. She tucked the album away and stared at the cieling for an hour trying not to cry.
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Yes, I know, that was shmaltsy (did I spell that right?) Finally, though my chapters are getting longer! I couldn't figure out what Remus should get Violet, but I finally found something. Well, please review!
Chappie number 4
THANK YOU TO MY FIRST REVIEWERS! STINKY STAN AND KAHUNA!!!! I'm glad you liked the story. Oh, and if you've noticed that the third chapter was a little wierd, I accidentally loaded the wrong chapter into it. Sorry for that mistake. I fixed it so you can re-read chapter three if you like.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and stuff you've seen in the HP books, yada yada yada...
Here I am at 5:08 a.m. working on this, because I've been too lazy to take my sleeping pills. Sirius, thankfully, is sleeping and won't be interrupting me, provided I don't get too loud. Well, let's go.
Chapter 4
"All right, Vi. Now, hit me as hard as you can."
"No way! I'm not going to hit you!"
It was 6:30 in the morning in a large spare room in the Burrow, where Remus was teaching Violet how to fight. Remus had conjured several punching bags, gloves, a weight set, some jump ropes, a pull-up bar, and a rope to climb. They were standing face-to-face, fists raised in the center of a mat.
Remus sighed, shoving his hair out of his eyes. "Violet, I have to see how good you punch, like where you need improvement and such." when she still refused to hit him, he pulled out his wand. "If it'll make you feel better, I'll put a charm on these gloves. That way, I'll be able to feel the force of the punch, but you won't be able to hurt me." He tossed her the gloves. "Now, will you cooperate?"
Violet sighed and pulled the gloves on.
"Good." Remus said. "Now, pretend you're mad at me. I don't know, er... pretend I just insulted Sirius!"
Violet's eyes narrowed. The fact that he'd mentioned Sirius had done it. She brought her arm back, and swung it forward, stepping into the swing so as to throw her whole body weight into the punch. It connected cleanly with Remus's jaw and he fell to the ground. After recovering from the shock, Remus gasped, "Just what did he teach you?!"
"Enough to know to step forward and throw your body weight into the punch." Violet took off one of the gloves and extended a hand to help Remus up.
"Thanks." He muttered. "So, your punching's good, so far. But, I want to teach you different methods of hitting. For instance, if you want to provoke your opponent, which I wouldn't recommend doing unless you absolutely have to, you could try slapping with your open hand. It's the same as a punch. You throw your whole body into it, and it will hurt." He tossed her a pair of thin leather gloves that he had charmed. "Try it on me."
violet looked apprehensive, but slapped him hard, causing Remus's head to jerk to the opposite direction. "Not bad." He said. "You can also try jabbing. Do it repeatedly; once won't hurt anyone." He demonstrated on the punching bag, which would yell everytime he hit it. He stepped aside so as to allow Violet room to demonstrate. She hit hard enough for the bag to complain, "Now, really, do you have to hit so hard?"
"Not bad again. However, the rest of your body has to remain a bit rigid. Not so stiff that you're not flexible anymore, but you don't want to lose control and miss completely, or maybe fall on your face. Not remotely good for winning these things. That's it. Stand stiff like that, good. Now try it."
This time, the bag yelped in pain, cursing at her after she was done. She looked over at Remus, who smiled. "Very good, Violet. Very good. Now, I want to move on to blocking."
For the next hour or so, Remus taught Violet how to block numerous punches, trying them out on her, only managing to hit her once with the charmed gloves. Even then, he hastened forward to help her up. "Are you okay? I didn't hit too hard, did I?"
Violet sighed, exasperated. "I'm fine! The gloves are charmed, remember?"
He looked sheepish. "I guess I'm just paranoid I'll hurt you."
"I don't think if someone tries to hit me they're going to ask me if I'm okay." She picked up her watch from the floor. "Almost eight o' clock... I guess we'd better go shower and get ready for breakfast. They'll wonder where we are."
Violet beat Remus to the shower and for his sake, only took about five minutes in the shower, dressed quickly, and was out before he could knock on the door.
She sat down at the table, as the Weasleys slowly filtered into the kitchen. As Mrs. Weasley Summoned eggs and butter and sausages, Violet got up to help. Mrs. Weasley noticed and said, "Oh, no dear, you don't have to help me. I'll get along fine on my own. Do sit down and rest."
It took a lot more persuading, but Violet agreed to sit down and wait. Ron sat down on one side of her. "You okay?" he said quietly.
"Of course I'm okay!" she said, playfully smacking him. "I'm here, eating a decent meal, actually enjoying the rest of my summer. I'm among people that actually give a damn about me. Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Just checking." Ron said hastily. "You know I worry about you."
"Well, don't. I'm doing fine, really I am." And she meant it. Remus sat down on the opposite side of her, looking a bit tired from the training session. Seeing Violet's worried glance, he said, carefully choosing his words, as he didn't want everyone to know he was training Violet. They might let it slip to someone. "I've just been working out this morning and I'm a little rusty, as I haven't worked out in a while. I'll be up to speed soon enough."
Violet wasn't entirely convinced, but let it go when Mrs. Weasley handed out plates covered in food, Violet's threatening to spill onto the floor. Remus laughed. "Wow, Molly. With all this food you've been making, we might have Violet almost to a decent weight by the end of the summer."
"Oh, shut up." she muttered, digging into the plate. Even though she'd had three large meals and a couple snacks the day before, she was ravenous. After convincing Mrs. Weasley that she didn't need a third helping, she got up and ventured into the living room, Remus following her. Albus Dumbledore was again, standing in the middle of the room.
"I need to discuss something with the two of you. Would you sit down?" He gestured to the comfortable, worn couch, where they both sat down warily. "Thank you." He cleared his voice. "Now, as you both know, Violet can not return to Privet Drive. You have Remus to thank for that. He insisted that you don't return. It is finally decided that Remus will take you in, provided that we take several cautions."
Violet was so stunned that she didn't say a word, only gaping at Dumbledore. He continued. "One, you will be sent a supply of Wolfsbane Potion every month. Violet, it is up to you to ensure that he drinks it at least a week previous to the full moon. Two, you will have to register to become an Animagus. This will take months to do, as only the most skilled witches and wizards have accomplished it. And Remus's friends." A smile played at his lips. "You will be allowed to transform during the full moon, and only during the full moon. The house and your progress will be monitered. Professor McGonagall will be instructing you on becoming an Animagus. Three, Remus will be training you, not only in Wizard dueling, but Muggle dueling, as well. There will be a certain time during the day when you will practice magical dueling, and again, you will be closely monitored. Do you accept these terms?"
"With all do respect, sir," Violet found her voice finally. "But are you mad? Of course, I accept! I want to live with Remus! If... if he'll take me of course." She looked up at Remus.
"Are YOU mad?" he said with a grin. "Of course, I want to take you in! Why wouldn't I?" He bit back laughter at the look on her face, before she pounced on him, hugging him so tightly he had to gasp for breath.
"Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!" she shouted, her voice muffled from her face being pressed against Remus's shoulder.
When she finally pulled away, she was grinning so hard, her cheeks were getting sore, but she couldn't stop for the life of her. It was as though she'd sucked up a lung's worth of laughing gas.
Remus had to fight to keep himself from smiling as big as Violet was. He was ecstatic that she was coming to live with him, but he was more pleased at Violet's joy that she was to live with him. It felt good to have someone fully appreciate his presence.
Dumbledore smiled at the scene but continued, "You will have to attend a court hearing regarding the paperwork and terms to the agreement. Don't look so scared, Violet. It's not a disciplinary hearing like last time."
Violet relaxed. She had just freaked out that she was to attend another hearing. She would have happily attended a dozen hearings if it meant that she could stay with Remus.
Just then, the Weasley's burst in. "Mum and Dad've just given us the good news!" Fred yelled, picking Violet up again and spinning her around so fast she squealed like a prep. "You're not going back to live with those bastards!" His face dropped at his mother's icy glare. "Sorry, mum, I mean, I mean--"
"What he means to say, mum," George elbowed Fred. "She's not going to live with those sorry excuses for humans?"
"Well said, George!" Fred said thankfully, dropping Violet.
"I think a celebration is in order!" Charlie said with a grin. "Firewhiskey for everyone!"
"CHARLIE WEASLEY, DON'T YOU DARE!" Mrs. Weasley screeched.
"I mean, wine for the adults, butterbeer for the, er, adolescents." He said hastily.
That night everyone was happy. Remus and Violet had grins pasted on their faces all night. The Weasleys were wringing Violets hand all night. Finally, everyone began getting drowsy, and slowly filed off to bed, leaving Remus and Violet alone downstairs.
"Remus," Violet began. "Are you really sure you want to do this?"
"What are you talking about, Violet?" Remus looked hurt. "Why wouldn't I want to do this? Why would you assume that?"
"Rem, I don't want you to get hurt." Violet said shakily. "I've had enough people get hurt because of me, and I don't want to add you to the list."
"Violet." Remus grasped her shoulders tightly. "Look at me. Violet, no one got hurt because of you. Do you understand me? No one. I wouldn't be at risk because I took care of you. I risk my life every time I do an assignment for the Order. I risk my life every time I deliver an important message for Dumbledore. Even if you were a threat to me, I'd take you in anyway. It'd be worth the risk."
"Remus, I've already lost Sirius to them." She stared him in the face. "I can't lose you too."
"Violet, you'll never lose me." His voice had turned soft. "I don't care if I've died or lived forever. I'll always be here for you, whenever you need me. Don't ever forget that."
He loosened his grip on her shoulders, and pulled her gently into his arms. As he held her loosely, patting her on the head, he could just make out the words, "I never even got to say goodbye to him."
"Vi..." He said soothingly. "We're not meant to say goodbye. It was never intended that we should part from those we love."
"Dumbledore said that once." Violet said with a bit of laughter in her voice.
"Yeah. That's, er, where I got it from. I must admit, Dumbledore knows what he's talking about."
"Yeah..." Violet lapsed into silence. It did comfort her though, to know that Sirius had never truly left her. She managed to go to sleep that night, still leaning on Remus, her head on his shoulder, without crying or waking up screaming all night.
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Over the next two weeks, Violet developed a new routine. Get up at 4:30 in the morning, slip on a bikini, shorts, a tank top, and trainers, go outside and run around the Weasley's yard, which was estimated to be about a square mile. She would then take off her clothes and swim a few laps around the pond, get out, and run another mile until she was dry. She would then return to the workout room, where Remus would often find her stretching, doing pullups, climbing the rope, or pounding the snot out of the punching bag. At first, she found it rather difficult to run a mile at 4:30, swim several laps, then run another mile, and continue with training, but in time, it grew easier. Remus had moved from teaching her how to punch and block as she grew better and better at it to different methods of kicking. When she successfully got Remus in the head with a spinning kick (one that took forever to learn) they moved on to tricks like escaping a headlock, and other various things. Remus said he'd never been prouder of her progress.
However, one morning, Violet found herself being waken up by whispering voices. She could dimly make out, "Try shooting water at her with your wand, Fred."
Violet fought a smile, and instead faked a little groan, rolling to the side.
"Shut up, George! You'll wake her." She heard a smack, and a curse, followed by a small scuffle. Now seemed like the best time.
"STOP MAKING SO MUCH NOISE! I'M SLEEPING!" she roared like a banshee, pretty good for someone who'd just woke up.
The look on their faces was completely priceless. Fred had hold of Ron's collar and had his fist raised. Ron's hands were still in front of his face, which was turned towards Violet. Remus was standing in the doorway, looking amused at this scene. "You were awake the whole time, Violet. I saw you."
"Shhh..." She shook her head very obviously. "I've been ASLEEP." She put a lot of emphasis on the word.
Remus snorted. "Right." He strolled over to the sofa, and seized her by the wrist. "Now, get up. Come into the kitchen."
She protested, but he dragged her over to the kitchen door. "Wait..." He pulled out his wand, flicked it, and a bandana fastened itself around Violet's eyes.
"Remus, this is rediculous." She tried tugging the bandana off, but it refused to be pulled off. "What are you doing?"
"Just come in the kitchen. There's a surprise for you. You're going to ruin it."
She sighed, but allowed Remus to lead her into the kitchen and sit her down. She felt the bandana come off, and, on cue, the Weasleys all shrieked, "SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, VIOLET!"
Violet gasped at the enormous chocolate cake, and the huge stack of gifts on the table. "I'd completely forgotten it was my birthday!" she said truthfully.
"Well, are you gonna open them?" Charlie said impatiently, shoving her a stack of boxes.
"Okay?" She said unsurely, choosing the one on top, from Ginny, which turned out to be a platinum charm bracelet with four beautiful charms: a dog, which obviously represented Sirius, a stag, a wolf, and a lone girl with long hair. "Oh, Ginny..." she said softly. "It's beautiful..."
"I knew you liked silver," Ginny blushed almost as red as her hair. "but I knew since you were going to live with Remus, it was out of the question. So I got platinum instead."
"I love it!" she said breathlessly, pulling it on. "It'll go with my locket!" (More about the locket later) Ginny beamed. Violet reached for the next one.
"That one's from us." Fred put in helpfully.
It turned out to be two huge boxes full of trick wands, Canary Creams, Portable Swamps, Skiving Snackboxes, and such. Violet could tell it would come in incredibly handy for the next year. "Thanks, guys!" Violet grinned, clapping George on the back.
"Open mine," Bill said, shoving his toward her. "You might find that handy..."
Violet tore it open and gasped again. It was the knife she'd gotten from Sirius, only it was intact. The blade was no longer melted, instead it was the way it was before it had melted. When she flicked it open, the blade popped out, as long and hard (haha, LONG and HARD. Yes. I know, I'm disgusting...) as before.
"I found the melted parts around that door ages ago, and I managed to mold it and freeze it to make it the way it was bef-- whoa!" He laughed as Violet threw her arms around his neck.
"THANK YOU SO MUCH!" she screeched.
"Wow. I knew you'd like it, but I wasn't expecting that much of a reaction." Bill looked very pleased.
"Okay, now it's my turn," said Charlie. "Open it, Vi!"
She had a slight idea what his may be. But nevertheless, pretended to look clueless. She was right. In fancy wooden case, lay a brand new Quaffle, two quivering Bludgers, and a Golden Snitch. "Yes!" she said with a grin. "I've been wanting my own set. We can try it out later today."
She opened Mrs. Weasley's gift, which was a home-made tee shirt with a V on it, and an enormous box of fudge brownies. "Thank you, Mrs. W." she said, pulling the tee shirt on over the tank top she was wearing and taking a huge bite out of a brownie.
Mr. Weasley's gift was surprisingly, a Sony Discman and a stack of alternative rock CD's. "Wow. How did you know I love AFI?" She said with a smile.
"I've bewitched it so it won't need bat-bat-whatd'youcallems or eclectic cords." He said quietly. "Maybe you could show me how it works sometime?"
"Sure, Mr. Weasley." She bit back laughter. "Thanks."
Ron's gift was rather small. It turned out to be a photograph of himself, Hermione, and Violet in their first year. She laughed at how little they all were. "Oh, Ron..." she hugged him tighter than ever. "It's wonderful!"
Ron hugged her back, overjoyed that she loved his gift. Last was supposed to be Remus, but suddenly a figure with bushy hair slid out of the fireplace onto the floor. Standing up quickly, she brushed herself off, and threw her arms around Violet. "Oh, I'm so sorry I'm late! I got lost on the way here, and landed in some couple's living room while they were snogging! Oh, stop laughing, you guys! It's not funny." She turned towards Violet again. "Oh here's your gift."
It turned out to be, of course, a book. Violet looked skeptically at it's blank pages. "This isn't another homework diary, is it?"
"No. It's a journal. One that only you can open, by asking it to open itself. If anyone else tries to open it, it'll attack them."
"Thanks, Hermione! This'll probably come in handy."
"Oh, I forgot to tell you the best part!" Hermione pulled out a second one, and tossed it to Remus. "Now, if you each carry it on you all the time, you can communicate with each other. All you have to do is just call for the other person, and if they say your name, it means they accept and your faces will appear on whatever page, and you can talk to each other. So it doubles as a journal and a communicator. Oh, and the other person can't read what you wrote." She looked very pleased with herself.
"Excellent, Hermione!" Violet said, high-fiving Hermione.
"That kicks the crap out of my gift." shrugged Ginny.
"Remus, you're next," Mrs. Weasley said, handing her Remus's gift.
"Wait, Vi." Remus pulled her aside. "You may want to open that one later. Alone."
She sensed that it was a rather sentimental gift, so she nodded and stowed it away in her trunk, much to the annoyance of the Weasleys.
That day was the best Violet had ever had. Following the presents, they all had a very unhealthy breakfast of chocolate cake, then went outside to play Quidditch with Violet's new set. Violet's team won seven times, and Ginny's won twice.
They didn't even have lunch, instead playing all the way up until dinnertime.
Dinnertime was, of course, loud and cheery as always. Violet sat next to Remus, who was either talking with her in a kind of code about what he would teach her tomorrow for training, or having the usual discussion about goblins with Mr. Weasley and Bill. Mrs. Weasley was scolding the twins after the third time they'd slipped a Canary Cream into Ron's potatoes. Mr. Weasley was playing with several batteries, looking thoroughly embarrassed every time he saw Violet looking at him oddly. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were whispering excitedly. From what Violet could hear, she gathered they were trying to figure out just what Remus had gotten Violet. As a matter of fact, Violet was having immense difficulty not running up to Ginny's room and ripping open the gift herself. But she controlled herself until 8:30, after the exausted Weasleys, Remus, and Hermione had all gone to bed. Then, curiosity got the best of her and she opened her trunk, and unwrapped the package.
There was a letter addressed to her, in a horribly and painfully familiar handwriting. It was dated 2 January 2003.
Dear Violet, it began. I want to apologize to you for making such a scene yesterday in the kitchen. I didn't mean to scare you when I got so angry with Snape. And I'm sorry for pushing you and Harry out of the way when you got in the middle of it. It was just that Snape made me so mad when he insulted you two as well as James. Vi, you and Harry are all I have in this world, and I couldn't bear it if anything was to happen to you. Moony's my best friend, but even he can't compare with you and Harry. I also did want to tell you to be careful and study Occlumency as hard as you can. I know, I know you hate Snape almost half as much as I do. But you're going to have to grin and bear it. As big a buffoon as he is, he could save your life. Please take my advice on this one.
Sirius
P.S. I love you, Violet.
Tears poured down her face upon reading this, and she carefully folded it back up and slipped it into the bottom of her trunk. Next, after the letter was a small photo album. Each picture featured the Marauders, although Peter Pettigrew had been blasted off of each page for obvious reasons. Most of the pictures showed a young Sirius and James wrestling and horsing around, sometimes mussing their hair, and occasionally flipping the bird with cocky grins on their faces. Remus was normally lurking near the edge of the frame with an embarrassed grin on his face, laughing at something Sirius had said, or occasionally reading an enormous book. Violet was reminded forcefully of Hermione.
Violet had tears in her eyes as she looked at the last picture. It was of Sirius and James at the wedding, grinning with their arms casually draped around each other's shoulders. She tucked the album away and stared at the cieling for an hour trying not to cry.
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Yes, I know, that was shmaltsy (did I spell that right?) Finally, though my chapters are getting longer! I couldn't figure out what Remus should get Violet, but I finally found something. Well, please review!