A/N: Sorry for the delay for the update. This chapter was ready last week but I couldn't upload it. Anyway, here it is!
Miss Piratess: Thanks! I liked the reunion too :) Ron would become serious in this story, that's how I see him here.
Luna: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked it, and the end isn't here yet :) no worries!
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Chapter 28 - Desire and mystery
Professor Dumbledore met the group at the Entrance Hall with a smile. They all looked exhausted, for the exception of Ron and Harry, who were happy to be back. They were planning on writing to Hermione to tell her about their short visit to the Nine Kingdoms. Professor Dumbledore led them to the Great Hall where they saw a rectangular table in the middle. Teachers who were staying at Hogwarts were seated at it and they stood up and applauded when the group entered. Ron and Harry looked at each other and smiled. They all sat at the table and Professor Dumbledore stood up.
"Welcome back, my friends," he said, "I am proud of you all. You have managed to help in saving nine kingdoms from a fatal destiny. There are no words that would express my feelings at this moment, so I'm not going to say any. Voldemort has escaped, I know. That's so typical of him, so do not worry. We will defeat him someday, and that day will soon approach. Now, I'm starving and I'm sure you, too. So, enough talking and let us have our little lunch."
Within a second, the table was full of different kinds of food. They all started eating and drinking. Harry was chatting with Sirius happily, and didn't notice his cousin staring at Sirius.
"Lia, are you all right?" Remus whispered.
Lia sighed and turned to face him, "I'm fine, Remus."
"May I note that you were staring at Sirius since we got here?"
Lia nodded.
"What is it Lia? Did he hurt you?" Remus asked.
"No, he hasn't done anything," she replied and looked into Remus' eyes, "I don't want to talk about it now, if you please."
"It's okay," Remus could see sadness in her eyes, but he couldn't understand the reason behind it. "You know you can trust me. If you need to talk... well, at least I can be a good listener if I can't help."
"Thanks," Lia replied with a smile and continued her meal.
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Harry spent the whole day with Sirius, while Ron went to see Hagrid. Lia was no where to be seen. Remus locked himself in his room and the other professors were in their offices preparing for the next term. Professor McGonagall spend the rest of the day at the Hospital Wing with Madam Pomfrey, while Professor Snape went to the Headmaster's office to give his report.
"Did he see you, Severus?" Dumbledore asked after listening to Snape.
"Of course, Remus and I were dueling against him," Snape replied, adding an icy tone to Remus' name.
"He's alone now. The rest of his supporters are in Azkaban," said Dumbledore and started pacing.
"And I hope they won't break out," Snape continued for him.
"Yes, hope is a good thing indeed."
Snape got up, "is there anything else you wish to know Headmaster?"
"Were there any casualties on our side?"
"Only one," Snape looked at the floor, "Queen Red Riding Hood III, the queen of the Second Kingdom."
Dumbledore raised his eyebrow. Snape hadn't told him about that part of the incident.
"Tell me more, Severus. Who did it?" Dumbledore asked.
"Pettigrew, and Mr. Weasley killed him."
"How thoughtful of him. Remind me to give some extra points to Gryffindor as soon as the new term starts."
"Of course, Headmaster," Snape said, trying to hide the coldness in his voice. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I'm feeling rather tired."
"Of course, Severus. You may leave," Dumbledore smiled.
Snape left the office and headed to the dungeons. He was tired, but he wasn't in the mood for a rest. Dumbledore has just asked him to remind him to give the weasel some house points! How could he rest after that?
He slammed the door of his office shut and kicked a chair out of his way while he headed to the storeroom. A nice potion brewing would give his mind something to concentrate on, upon which he will have his desired rest. He would shut himself from the world surrounding him by standing behind his cauldron and pouring different ingredients in it while cursing the day he had become a Death Eater. The day he had been assigned as the Potions Master of the school, the day he had decided to become a spy for Dumbledore and join the Order of the Phoenix, and the day he had met Harry Potter. Son of James Potter and godson of Sirius Black. He mixed the ingredients before putting the cauldron on fire, then coated the cauldron with a sticky liquid. No one would dare to disturb him now. He was busy. He was making a potion that even he didn't know the name of. He picked the ingredients randomly, taking notes of the quantity of each ingredient, and how much did he add to the cauldron. He wrote down each and every step of his work, putting an invisibility charm on each parchment he used.
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Sirius and Harry were sitting under the oak tree in the school grounds.
"So, tell me about your summer so far," Sirius asked.
"Well," Harry said, "I was miserable at the beginning. Losing you and having to live with the Dursley's who were happy to know about your death. Then, I received a letter from Mrs. Weasley inviting me to their house. The bright part started there. I met Lia and I was so happy to know that I have a cousin, although my aunt is dead."
"Yeah, too bad we didn't know where she was," Sirius said.
"Why didn't you know? Wasn't she speaking with you or dad at the time?"
"We were on good terms, but she fell in love with a muggle and married him. After that we never heard of her. She preferred living a muggle life to protect her only daughter from a fatal destiny."
"What was that?" Harry asked.
"Voldemort wanted Emily to join him, but she refused. She warded her house and daughter to keep him away from her. But somehow Voldemort found a way to her house."
Harry knew the rest of it. His aunt was murdered.
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"Yer not supposed ter pat it!" Hagrid yelled as Ron held his hand and squeaked in pain. "They're bloody dangerous and yeh know it!"
"I forgot!" Ron said and waved his burning hand in the air to cool it a bit.
"Yeh better go ter see Madam Pomfrey, Ron. These baby Blast Ended Skrewts won't go anywhere."
"I don't want to get near them, thank you very much." Ron blew at his fingers softly.
"Yeh better go now," Hagrid said, "no, wait… I'll come with yeh."
Hagrid took the crate with the baby skrewts and put it outside his cottage and escorted Ron to the Hospital Wing.
"Are you going to make us deal with them this year too?" Ron asked.
"That's fer fifth years. Yeh've passed tha' level." Hagrid replied.
"Oh… sounds better," Ron said and smiled at Hagrid, who smiled back.
They reached the Hospital Wing at the moment Professor McGonagall was leaving.
"What happened to your hands, Mr. Weasley?" she asked as she noticed Ron's hands.
"Blast Ended Skrewts," Ron replied and she nodded with pursed lips.
"Better be careful next time," she said and walked away.
"Good thing she can't take off house points, eh?" Ron said to Hagrid who nodded.
Madam Pomfrey read a lecture about safety precautions while dealing with magical creatures, and Ron winced at each time she touched his hands. She seemed to be causing pain to him on purpose, as to make him become more careful next time he was near any kind of a magical creature.
As soon as she finished attending his hands, she wrapped a clean bandage around them and he left the Hospital Wing with Hagrid, who took him to the Gryffindor Tower.
"Yeh should get some rest," Hagrid said, "tha' trip was full o' surprises fer yeh. Besides, I need ter see wha're Fang an' Rex up ter."
"Yeah, okay," Ron replied.
"Go into yer dorm an' get a nap. I'll see yeh at dinner."
Ron smiled and went into the Gryffindor common room, and then to his dormitory.
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Lia was sitting in front of a golden framed mirror looking at herself, standing with her husband and daughter. She was looking into the Mirror of Erised.
She missed her boyfriend and the only way to see him was either to look at Sirius Black, or come into this room and stare at the image in the mirror. She looked at her desired little family with longing. What if John was still alive? How would her life been if he was by her side all these years? She kept questioning herself and thinking about her past without realizing that darkness was filling the room. It was getting dark outside and no one knew where she was, but she didn't care. They would search for her, maybe. However, she wanted to stay here, to look at the mirror for hours. To be with the love of her life one more time.
All her life she dreamt about living in a cottage at the countryside with a husband and a daughter. She liked the peace of mind that the countryside offered. She would have a little garden to attend to and she would have a lot of space to play with her daughter.
When she met John she was uncertain of his intentions toward her, but he proved to be trustworthy and he loved her. Lia was starting to believe that her dreams were becoming true. If only he wasn't at her house that Christmas evening…
Lia put her head in her hands and rested her elbows on her knees. She didn't want to cry, but tears were forcing their way out of her eyes.
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"Harry, have you seen Lia?" Remus asked as he met Harry and Sirius at the Entrance Hall.
"No, isn't she in her room?" Harry asked.
"No, and I didn't see her after lunch. I thought she was with you."
"Maybe she's at Hagrid's," Sirius said.
"Maybe, I can go and ask," Harry suggested but Remus shook his head.
"Don't bother. I only wanted to check her schedule with her. Besides, she'll be down for dinner anyway."
"Which reminds me," Sirius said, his hands rubbing his stomach. "I'm hungry."
Remus and Harry laughed, and Sirius joined them. They walked to the Great Hall and sat at the table waiting for the others to come.
"I would really like to see the face of your aunt and uncle," Sirius said, "They know I'm dead, don't they?"
"Yes," Harry replied, "but they also know about Moody, who happens to be "an ugly and rude man" for Uncle Vernon."
"Well, at least that ought to teach him not to mess with you."
"He kept avoiding me, which is good."
"What're you talking about?" Ron sat next to Harry.
"You forgot to comb your hair this time?" Harry asked his friend.
"Maybe," Ron yawned.
"At least someone got to get a nap," Remus said with a smile.
"We are occupied men," Sirius said in a teasing manner, "we have so much business to attend that we cannot close an eye." He finished his sentence with a dramatic sigh.
"Well, Ron, it seems you're not an 'occupied man,'" Harry teased his friend.
"At least I get to sleep," Ron replied and they laughed.
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After dinner Harry and Ron went to the Gryffindor Tower and started writing a letter to Hermione, telling her about their short adventure to the nine kingdoms.
Remus and Sirius went to the Astronomy Tower and stared at the sky.
"Remember when we used to come here to write the map?" Remus asked.
"How can I forget? McGonagall was furious when she found us once. I remember it like it was yesterday," Sirius replied.
"James couldn't spend one detention without seeing Lily first."
"The prat was lucky to win her heart," Sirius smiled.
"Yes," Remus said and looked at the sky. "I miss them, you know."
"I miss them, too. It's been almost fifteen years since… you know."
Remus nodded. He remembered that night perfectly. The house was a mess. James lying motionless downstairs, while Lily was in the same state upstairs in Harry's room.
Sirius seemed to know what Remus was thinking of and he decided to change the subject.
"Have you seen Lia?" he asked.
Remus shook his head. "Not after lunch, anyway. I wonder where she is."
"Should we search for her? She might be lost in the castle."
"It's almost ten o'clock. Maybe she's in her room."
"Let's go to her room first," Sirius suggested, "if she's not there, we'll start searching somewhere else."
"By the way," Remus said as they headed to the stairs, "have you noticed how she was staring at you at lunch?"
"No," Sirius replied, "was she?"
"Yes, and when I asked her what was wrong, she didn't tell me."
"That's odd," Sirius said.
They reached Lia's room and knocked the door. There was no answer.
"Looks like she's not here," Sirius said.
"I wonder where she is," Remus looked around as if Lia was going to show up from some corner.
"Why don't we use the map?" Sirius asked.
"Good idea," Remus replied and they headed to the Gryffindor Tower.
They reached the portrait of the Fat Lady and realized that they don't have the password.
"Great! Now how are we supposed to get in?" Sirius asked in frustration.
"Password?" asked the Fat Lady.
"Er… we don't have it," Remus said, "but we need to get inside, so if you…"
"No password, no entrance. Sorry, that's the rules."
"Bloody wards," Sirius muttered.
"I heard that!" the Fat Lady said, folding her arms on her chest. "And congratulations on defeating the evil at the kingdoms," she added monotonously.
"Thank you," Remus and Sirius replied together.
At that moment, the portrait moved to a side and Harry and Ron came out of the hole.
"You don't know how good it is to see you two!" Sirius said.
"Sirius, are you feeling all right?" Harry asked.
"I'm quite fine, thank you. What's the password?"
"Unicorn," Harry said.
"You just came out!" the fat Lady said and was about to move to a side when Harry held a hand.
"I wasn't talking to you, so there's no need to open the door."
"Good," she said.
"Harry, do you have the Marauders map?" Remus asked.
"Yeah, it's upstairs in my dorm," Harry replied.
"Could you get it please?"
"Sure," Harry said and turned to the portrait. "Unicorn."
"Now what?!" the Fat Lady said angrily, "oh, all right!"
The portrait moved to a side and Harry went inside. He cam back after a few moments with a parchment in his hand.
"Here," he gave the map to Remus.
"Thank you. We'll return this as soon as we're finished," Remus said.
"See ya!" Sirius called as he followed Remus to the corridors.
"What do they need it for?" Ron asked.
"Dunno," Harry replied, "but we better go and send this letter."
"Yeah, let's go."
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Remus opened the parchment and tapped it with his wand.
"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."
The map revealed itself and Sirius joined Remus in searching every corner of Hogwarts for Lia.
"She's on the seventh floor!" Sirius said, pointing at a black dot with the label "Lia Jones" written next to it.
"In the room of requirement? Why did she go there?" Remus asked.
"We'll find out. Come on," Sirius said and headed to the staircase.
"Mischief managed," Remus muttered and tapped the map. The writings disappeared and he followed Sirius to the seventh floor.
"It should be somewhere here," Remus asked and started to pace back and forth thinking about the room Lia was in.
"There's the door!" Sirius said, pointing at a door that wasn't there a moment ago.
They opened the door and entered. The room seemed to be an abandoned one and there was an enormous mirror standing in the middle of it. They saw Lia sleeping on the ground, in front of the mirror.
"Why did she want to come to this room?" Sirius asked.
"Let's wake her up, first."
Remus knelt next to Lia and shook her gently.
"Lia, wake up."
Lia opened her eyes and sat up quickly.
"What's wrong? Where am I?" she asked in a sleepy voice.
"You were sleeping on the cold floor Lia," Remus said and helped her to stand up. "Are you feeling all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess I fell asleep," she said and noticed Sirius standing behind Remus. He smiled at her, and she looked at the mirror. She saw the reflection of herself with John and their little daughter who was playing with a doll now.
"Are you sure you're feeling all right?" Remus asked.
"Yeah… I'm perfect," she replied, "I just needed some time to be alone."
She didn't want to tell them what she saw in the mirror. It was her private issue.
"You better go to your room and get a sleep. At least it would be warmer there," Sirius said.
Lia nodded and walked toward the door.
"Lia?" Remus called.
Lia stopped and turned to face him.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.
Lia shook her head and left the room.
"Padfoot, there's something in her mind that I must find out," Remus said.
"Ask little old Snivellus to do that," Sirius said, "he's good at Occlumency and Legilimency."
"You're right, I'll ask him about it tomorrow."
"I was only joking!" Sirius said, "I'll go to the Gryffindor Tower. I miss my old bed."
"I'll be in my room if you need me," Remus said.
"All right, see you tomorrow."
"Good night."
Sirius went to the Gryffindor Tower while Remus headed for the Western Tower where his room was located. Remus was determined to find out what was bothering Lia when Sirius is in the same room with her.