"And that's how it was. You're parents were amazing people, Harry, and I only wish you could've known them." Remus Lupin said as he gazed into the fire at number twelve, Grimmauld Place in London, Order of the Phoenix headquarters.
"Wow," Harry Potter seemed dazed, tired, and alone as he digested what Remus had just told him. After a few minutes, Harry shrugged and looked back at Remus.
"Well, I know what happened to my parents, Sirius, and Jessie. They were killed. What happened to Beth and Jessie?" Harry asked, rubbing his arms as if he were cold. He wasn't, he'd just gotten a sudden chill for some reason.
"Well, about two years after we graduated, Sirius and Beth were about to get married. They waited a long time, because, well—neither one really wanted to be tied down. They loved each other mind you—very much—but they couldn't come to terms with the fact that they would be married—stuck for life. So they waited. Well, one day, Sirius came home from Quiddtich practice—he was on the community league, just for fun you know—and Jessie was gone. She'd just disappeared. Sirius looked for her for months—almost a year, before they finally found her. She had been tortured by Voldemort, so badly in fact that she had lost her mind—much like Frank and Alice Longbottom. Somehow she got away from him, nobody knows how, but he found her in St. Mungo's—insanity ward. He stuck by her firmly, but after a few months, she died. It almost killed him. Then, exactly one year after she died, you were born. That helped Sirius a little, we'd all gather at James and Lilly's and hold you, talk to you, lay around like we used to at Hogwarts, and he seemed to relax a little, act like his old self. We thought everything was okay—he wasn't his old self, mind you, but he laughed sometimes, and started eating again." Remus took a breath and shrugged slightly. "Then your parents were killed. I was, of course, heartbroken, as was Sirius. But I had Beth to comfort me—Sirius had no one. And what I didn't know until your 3rd year, was that Peter was, in fact, their secret keeper, not Sirius. I was very angry and confused after I thought Sirius had betrayed Lilly and James and I was even more upset when he was taken to Azkaban. When I saw him again, I was relieved and unbelievably happy to find that he hadn't been the one that killed them—your parents that is." He stopped speaking, staring into the fire once again. Harry was quiet too, at first, but after a few minutes, he couldn't restrain himself for asking one last question.
"And Beth?" He whispered, so quietly that he thought Remus hadn't heard him. As he was about to ask again, Remus ran his hand over his face and looked at the floor. Harry noticed he looked tired, weary, almost old in fact.
"Dead—Voldemort attacked our home—He wanted me to join the Dark Side, you know, since I was a werewolf, but I wouldn't. I was scared, for three years I lived in fear that I would come home and everything would be gone. Then, one day it happened. I came home and found her dead. Nothing else was disturbed—she was just lying in the kitchen, on floor, still in her apron. She must have been fixing my lunch and he broke in. Actually, the way he killed her was generous. No pain, no suffering, just death. I left England then and went to America, but Dumbledore sent for me at the beginning of your 3rd year, sensing something was about to happen. He wanted me at Hogwarts, so I went, and you know the rest…" Harry nodded to show he understood. They sat in silence for what must have been the better part of half an hour before there was a knock on the door. Tonks and Hermione poked their heads in. They saw the somber expressions on Harry and Remus' faces and walked in.
"Are you two alright?" Hermione asked. Remus looked at Tonks and smiled thankfully.
"We're fine. I was just filling James—I mean—Harry—I was--- I was just filling him in on my Hogwarts years." Remus shook his head and smiled at Harry, who in turn smiled back. Remus got up and put his arm around his wife, leading her out of the room, to go check on their new daughter. Tonks laughed as Remus kissed her before they left the room. Hermione walked over to Harry and kneeled on the floor at his feet.
"Harry, are you alright, Love?" She placed hands, folded, on his knee and leaned her chin on them.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Remus was just telling me about my parents and Sirius…It was kind of hard, but at least I know what happened now." Hermione nodded as James ran his hand over his face. "What about you? Are you feeling okay? You really shouldn't be kneeling on the floor like that, not in your condition." He stood up and helped lift a very pregnant Hermione off the floor. She laughed, a bubbly laughter that made Harry smile everytime he heard it.
"I'm fine, Love, I'm fine. I just came to get you for lunch anyway. Come on, let's go." She slipped her hand into his and smiled. "Harry?" She stopped before they reached the door and put her hand to her stomach. "I think it's time—either that or Lilly and James are kicking like hell."