Warning: Some of the language in this chapter is slightly stronger than I normally use. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Lies
By Neurotica
Twenty-Eight
Harry waited impatiently at the foot of the stairs at Number Twelve for his godfather to return from the Ministry. In his hand was a crumpled piece of parchment he'd found beside his open Hogwarts trunk. He'd returned from Diagon Alley to find his bedroom door wide open, books and school robes strewn around his trunk, and his Invisibility Cloak missing. The note he'd found was evidence as to who had been in his room, but he had no clue as to why Remus would take his cloak.
The Weasleys were down in the basement having dinner. Mrs. Weasley had tried to persuade Harry to eat with them, but the boy declined—he needed to talk to Sirius first. Finally, after what seemed like hours, Harry heard a wand tap on sharply on the front door. He jumped from his spot on the steps and wrenched the door open.
"Bloody hell, Harry!" Sirius said, startled. "What are you doing?"
Harry didn't answer. He pulled Sirius up the stairs by the man's Ministry robes and into his room. Making sure they were, indeed, alone, Harry closed the door. "My cloak's gone, and I found this," he said hastily, handing the letter to Sirius.
Sirius raised an eyebrow at Harry and un-crumpled the parchment. Harry watched Sirius' face grow tense with anger as he read. Sirius reached the end and nodded slowly, his face now void of emotion. "Right," he said tightly, staring at the parchment. "Right. Go downstairs and eat dinner. I'll be back later."
Sirius made to leave the room, but found Harry blocking his exit. "Who is Naomi?"
Sirius sighed, trying to keep his patience. "It's a long story," he said. Harry remained silent, crossing his arms, and not moving an inch. "Harry, I don't have time for this." Sirius sighed again. Harry gave his godfather a look that said 'make time'. Sirius was startled to see how much the boy looked like both his mother and father at that very moment. "Fine, you really want to know? Naomi and Remus had been engaged to be married the winter after your parents died. She left him a week after Halloween. She'd become a Death Eater. Remus hasn't seen her since the night she'd told him. Now all of a sudden, because Voldemort's back, I'd reckon, she's trying to get in touch with him. Want to know more?"
Harry's mouth was slightly open at the revelation. "Remus was engaged?"
"Yes," Sirius said shortly. "And now I need to find out why the hell he's meeting her in Hogsmeade."
"I'm going, too," Harry said.
"No, you're not. And it's not open for argument, so don't even try," Sirius said flatly. "Excuse me," he added, moving his godson aside as gently as he could and ran down the stairs.
"Remus?" the voice said again. "Are you here?"
From under the Invisibility Cloak, Remus could see Naomi approaching, her wand giving her light to see by in the dark cave. Cautiously, he reached into his robes and retrieved his own wand.
Naomi, seeing herself seemingly alone, sighed, leaned against the cave wall, and looked around her sadly. For the slightest second, she looked like the same girl Remus had fallen for years ago. But the pain of what she'd done to him, and the memories of the night Hogwarts had been attacked, overcame everything else he was feeling. In one swift movement, he pulled off the cloak and pointed his wand at her. "What do you want?" he asked evenly.
Naomi started, her head facing the mouth of the cave, and instinctively raised her wand to the wizard before her.
"Remus," she said dumbly. "Hi."
"What do you want?" he asked again, keeping a tight grip on his wand.
"I-I just want to talk," she stuttered, eyeing Remus' wand warily.
"Drop your wand," he commanded. She did and he summoned it to him, pocketing it without take his eyes off her. The tip of her wand was still lit, giving both occupants of the cave light to see one another by. "Talk," he said.
"Could you lower your wand?"
"Not a chance in hell," Remus responded coldly.
Naomi sighed. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to take a step closer to Remus—his wand kept her back. "I-I'm sorry for everything," she said. Sighing again, she tried to gather herself. "I shouldn't have done it. I was scared."
"Scared?" Remus repeated. He didn't need her to expand on why she was apologizing. "You joined the most feared wizard in history because you were scared?" he said loudly, his voice echoing off the cave wall. "Do you have any idea how ignorant that sounds? Dammit, Naomi! We were all scared! I was scared! I was scared for you and for Lily and James and Harry. I was scared for Sirius, and even Peter. But do you see me with a brand on my arm?"
"I didn't know what else to do! How was I supposed to know Harry would defeat him? I was just as upset as you when I found about Lily and James," Naomi said.
"Bull shit!" Remus shouted. Naomi winced as red sparks flew from Remus' wand. "You didn't care! Not once did I see you cry over them, not even at their funerals. Not once did I have to comfort you. Now that I think about it, not once did you comfort me!"
"Remus... You know that's not true," she whispered, her eyes filling with tears. "I did care. I spent days crying over them. They were two of the best friends I ever had. How could I not have cried for them?"
"I don't believe you," he spat. "Is this why you wanted me here? Because I have better things to do that talk to Death Eaters."
"There is a reason," she said hastily as Remus moved to leave. "I-I want to go see Dumbledore. I was hoping you'd come with me...?" she added hesitantly.
"Go with you?" Remus repeated. Naomi nodded. "You're mad. You held me back from helping Harry at Hogwarts. You laughed in my face while he was in danger. Your best friend's son—James' son. He could have died that night, and you held me back. Now you think I would want to help you?"
"What was I supposed to do?" Naomi cried. "The place was swarming with Death Eaters, not to mention the Dark Lord. I couldn't just lay my wand down and let you pass! They would have killed me!"
"Then you should have died," Remus growled. "Stay away from me, Naomi." He stepped around her—how had she gotten so close without him noticing? "Stay away from me from and Sirius and especially from Harry. If anything happens to either of them, whether you were involved or not, I will find you and I will kill you myself."
Naomi could only watch as Remus left the cave as quickly as he could. He looked up and down the path leading to and away from Hogsmeade. He made to Apparate to headquarters before a hand grasped his shoulder and roughly spun him around. Remus' fist connected with his attacker's face, which he couldn't see due to the setting sun in his eyes.
"Ow, Remus!" Sirius cried. "What the hell is it with you and Harry?"
"Sirius?" Remus said, squinting to see his friend. "What are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing!" Sirius said, forgetting his bruising eye, his anger building. "Are you stupid?" he shouted.
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Not that I'm aware of, no," he responded calmly, not flinching at the tone Sirius used.
"She's a fucking Death Eater, Remus! Not your long lost love," Sirius hissed.
"Thank you, Sirius, for that kind assessment. I never would have known that if you hadn't just told me," Remus said sarcastically.
"Is she still in there?" Sirius asked, nodding towards the cave.
"Unless she wants to Disapparate without a wand, yes," Remus said.
Sirius entered the cave, lit his wand, and held it high over his head. "She's not here," he said.
"Okay, I guess she doesn't need her wand," Remus said lightly. Sirius glared at him. "Look, she was just here, and she didn't follow me out. And I'm sure we would have noticed her sneaking out behind us."
"Let's get back to Headquarters. We can talk there," Sirius said. "Besides, Harry's probably going spare; he found that note."
Remus winced. "What did you tell him?"
"Everything," Sirius said simply before Disapparating.
Remus and Sirius entered Number Twelve, finding the stairs deserted—much to Sirius' surprise—and made their way up the stairs to the library. Once the door was closed, Sirius turned around and slapped Remus hard across the back of the head.
"What was that for?" Remus asked loudly, rubbing the back of his now throbbing head.
"Revenge. Well, mostly for you being an idiot," Sirius said, sitting on the arm of the sofa. "Do you know how much trouble you can get into for even conversing with a known Death Eater? Not to mention you're a—well, you know," he added lamely.
"Yes, I know," Remus said. "But I brought back souvenirs."
Sirius watched as Remus pulled out a dark red wand from his robes and handed it to him. "Hers?" he asked, taking the wand. Remus nodded. "And you're positive it's hers and not a fake?"
"Positive," Remus said, nodding. "I was with her when she bought it. It was a replacement."
Sirius nodded. "Tell me everything."
Remus sat in an armchair across from Sirius and began to explain what happened with Naomi.
"Did she really want to see Dumbledore or to get you out in the open where ten other Death Eaters were waiting to capture you?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know." Remus sighed. "I had her wand, and we were—supposedly—alone the entire time. If she wanted to kill me—or capture me—she probably could have."
"And you say I'm reckless," Sirius muttered, a grin forming on his face.
Remus chuckled. "How was your day?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "How much time do you have?"
Three days later, surrounded by ten of the Ministry's best Aurors, led by Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin, Harry made his way slowly to the Department of Mysteries. Everything had been explained to him—Peter Pettigrew, the prophecy, Naomi—and he knew what he had to do.
Standing directly to his right was Sirius. This was just another mission as far as he was concerned—though the consequences of failure were higher than just a few days in St. Mungo's. He'd handpicked everybody involved in the guard surrounding Harry: Kingsley, Tonks, Moody, Dawlish, as well as five others. They were people Sirius would trust with his life. But when it came to Harry's life, Sirius only trusted himself and Remus with that duty, and on rare occasions such as this, Dumbledore.
As they approached the Department of Mysteries doors, Sirius spotted Broderick Bode standing beside Minster Bones. Bode nodded to the group and led them into a large, black, circular room with blue candles on the walls.
"Hall of Prophecies," Bode said clearly once the door was closed behind them.
Harry started a bit as the walls began to spin rapidly. Sirius chuckled softly. "All right, Harry?" he muttered.
"Fine," Harry replied.
Once the walls were still again, Bode pushed open a door in front of him and held it open for the others. He winked and sent an encouraging smile to Harry as the group entered single file. They'd entered a room with more clocks than Harry had seen in his life. Sirius kept him from lingering to look around, however; he tugged gently on Harry's elbow, encouraging him to keep moving. They stepped into a room with a ceiling as high as a church's and towering shelves with dusty, glowing orbs filling them.
The wizards around him were instructed by Sirius to keep their wands out as they walked down rows and rows of shelves. Dumbledore seemed to know exactly where he was going; he led the group expertly through the room until they found row ninety-seven.
"Harry," Dumbledore called softly. Sirius walked with Harry to the front of the guard. Dumbledore led Harry, Sirius, and Remus down the row and pointed out Harry's prophecy.
Harry stared at it for long moments, wondering how a glass ball—no bigger than a Bludger—could have caused his life turn out as it had.
"Go on, Harry," Remus urged quietly.
Harry nodded and sighed. He reached out a hand and grasped the prophecy tightly, feeling the surprising warmth of it immediately. Slowly, carefully, he brought the orb to eyelevel, his guardians and Dumbledore watching him closely. He read the yellowish label affixed to the Prophecy: S.P.T. to A.P.W.B.D., Dark Lord and (?) Harry Potter.
"Harry," Dumbledore whispered, holding out his hand. Harry exchanged a glance with Sirius and Remus, and slowly handed the prophecy to the Headmaster. Dumbledore immediately wrapped it in a piece of black cloth and placed it safely inside his robes. "To Hogwarts," he said to the group.
Bode led the lot of them from the Hall of Prophecies and out of the Department of Mysteries. Sirius dismissed his Aurors, sending them back to work. Bones led Dumbledore, Remus, Sirius, Harry, and Moody to her office where Dumbledore and Remus would take a portkey with the prophecy back to Hogwarts.
Sirius sat at the kitchen table in Order Headquarters, watching Harry draw circles with his finger on the wooden surface. For a moment in the Hall of Prophecies, Sirius had been highly tempted to wrench the golden orb from Harry's hands and throw it against a wall. Dumbledore had probably sensed this; he'd taken the prophecy from Harry only a moment before Sirius had moved forward.
The Weasleys had gone back to the Burrow for the day to gather some forgotten items and take care of their garden. Molly and Arthur were well aware of what Sirius, Remus, and Harry were doing that day, and thought it best to keep the kids away so more questions wouldn't be asked.
Dumbledore and Remus were left in charge of guarding the prophecy. The two wizards remained at Hogwarts, placing every protection charm they could think of around the orb, and placing it in a deep, hidden chamber of the school. For some reason, the prophecy, no matter how well it would be guarded, still didn't seem safe enough. The protections surrounding it would be kept to only Dumbledore and Remus, neither telling the other what spells they'd used.
Maybe Hagrid can get a Chimaera, Sirius thought. And a dragon, maybe three or four trolls, and... isn't there supposed to be a giant spider in the Forbidden Forest...?
"Hey, Sirius," Harry said quietly.
"Yeah?"
"Is that what you were guarding?"
Sirius looked up at his godson. Of course he knows, moron; he's Prongs' son. "Yes," he answered.
Harry nodded. "What else are you doing?"
Sirius sighed. "How much do you know?" he asked hesitantly.
"Only that you're fighting Voldemort, really." Harry shrugged. "And you've been guarding the prophecy."
"You shouldn't even know that," Sirius muttered, slightly irritated. "Look, all you really need to know is that we know what we're doing. We've done this before—"
"And look how that turned out," Harry said under his breath. Sirius obviously hadn't heard him.
"—and this time we're more prepared. To be truthful, we've been prepared for almost eleven years," Sirius finished.
"You knew this was going to happen?"
"Well, we knew it would happen eventually. There was no way we really could have known when or how Voldemort would be coming back. And when I say 'we,' I mean Remus. I argued it until that night in the graveyard," Sirius said.
Harry's eyebrows shot up. Sirius never mentioned that night if he could help it, and very rarely did he mention it in front of Harry.
"Having the Order reformed was actually how we found you, you know. Moody, Kingsley, Remus, Dung, Dumbledore, and I. Longest night of my life, that was," Sirius rambled quietly. Harry remained silent. "As much as I loathe the man, it was because of Snape that I found you. During the battle he—er—kindly informed me that Wormtail had taken you to that graveyard."
"That was the best Reductor curse I've ever seen in my life." Harry grinned.
"That was the first Reductor curse you'd ever seen in your life," Sirius muttered. Harry shrugged. "Oh, by the way, I'm the one who found your stag. It was buried in a box back at the cottage. Thought you'd want to keep it nearby."
"Thanks." Harry smiled.
Sirius winked. "I'm going upstairs, see if I can find some stuff for work tomorrow. Get to bed at a semi-decent hour. Remus has some work for Dumbledore to do tomorrow, so you're going with me to the Ministry in the morning." Harry groaned. "Yeah, now you know how I feel." Sirius grinned before disappearing up the stairs.
Remus sat tiredly in front of Dumbledore's desk while the elder wizard poured the two of them some brandy. They had just finished with the protection spells on the prophecy, and Dumbledore was preparing to tell Remus about a new mission for the Order that he would be sent on the following day.
Hagrid had gone, along with Madame Maxime from Beauxbatons, to meet with the giants and perhaps persuade them to stay away from Voldemort's ranks. Remus' new mission was to follow a group of Death Eaters trailing Hagrid's path, and lead them away from the giants. Remus' partner on the mission would be Emmeline Vance—much to Dumbledore's obvious amusement. The pair would leave mid-afternoon and travel to France, pretending to be a couple on vacation, much like Hagrid and Maxime.
"I would like the two of you to be prepared to leave at noon tomorrow," Dumbledore said. "I've already spoken with Emmeline."
"What about Harry's Occlumency?" Remus asked.
"I have already arranged that as well. Elphias Doge and Mundungus Fletcher will fill-in for Emmeline whilst you are away. If they cannot fulfill the requirements, or Harry does not find either of them a suitable instructor, I will take over," Dumbledore explained.
Should have been you in the first place, Remus thought slightly bitterly, careful to avoid eye contact with Dumbledore.
"I, personally, will see to it that you and Emmeline have tracking charms placed upon you. We will monitor your progress carefully throughout the journey. Should there be any problems, aid will not be far," the Headmaster continued.
It sounded to Remus that Dumbledore was sending him and Emmeline into the gates of hell—it was just France... While it would be a dangerous mission, Remus had been involved in far more perilous operations during the first war.
"Things are much different now, Remus," Dumbledore said heavily, looking his age again. "We know what we are dealing with, yes, but there are far worse things to come that we have yet to discover. This war has yet to begin, I am afraid. Voldemort's powers are still a mystery to us, and perhaps to him as well. There are very few people I would trust with my life, Remus, but you, my dear boy, are one of them," Dumbledore said quietly. "And I trust you will carry out this mission admirably."
Remus' eyes widened slightly at the sudden revelation from his mentor—the man who had trusted in him since he was eleven years old when most had shunned him. What could anyone say to that?
"Thank you, sir," Remus said quietly.
Dumbledore smiled and bowed his head respectfully. "Thank you, Remus," he said. "Now, I am sure you are anxious to return to Headquarters and pack for your—er—holiday with the lovely Emmeline Vance, so I will not keep you any longer. I will see you tomorrow, Remus."
