Chapter 15: The Hearing.
Today.
It was nothing. Seriously…it meant nothing.
It's probably some mistake. Yes, that must be it. Hermione glanced at the blue cloak from the corner of her eyes and sighed. She couldn't understand the meaning of all this. Why would her very muggle parents keep a Hogwarts cloak? And a one that carried the symbol of Slytherin house…non of it made sense.
There was no limit to the number of options that were now open. Her parents were wizards and never told her, or maybe someone else from her family was a wizard. Hell she might be related to the Malfoy's like Sirius was or maybe related to Snape…she almost burst out crying. Related to Snape? Oh, the horror…
The looks on the faces of those who surrounded her that day were shocked and somewhat full with disappointment. They were all Gryffindors and the new discovery overwhelmed them all, even professor Lupin's usually calm features showed some kind of distress as he watched the cloak. When she threw the offending material to the floor and checked the secret hiding place for more items she found it empty. Professor Lupin examined the cloak once more before giving it to her and advising gently that she should keep it. She frowned at him but kept the cloak and took it back to Hogwarts. But looking at it all day did nothing to solve the riddle.
After trying to write a roll of parchment in DADA and failing to concentrate she decided to go down to the common room where she found Ron and Harry sitting by the fire looking at a heavy book. She raised her eyebrows when she saw it was her own copy of "Hogwarts- a History".
"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.
Harry and Ron exchanged looks of worry and Harry signaled her to sit down next to him. She nodded and sat beside him, trying to ignore the heat that spreaded in her body when their hips touched briefly. Ron coughed to get their attention and then showed her the page they were reading.
"Well, we had that thought that there must be some kind of information about all the wizards that attend Hogwarts, you know personal information, date of birth, names of parents and so on…"
"And there is such a thing." Harry continued. "It's right here in the library, right next to the book that writes the wizard or witchs name when they are born. When the parents send the owl back to Hogwarts after receiving the letter they have to write the personal details of their child."
Hermione read the yellowing page slowly. "It's in the restricted section." She said. "You really think I could find information about my parents in that book?"
"Yeah, but were in for a long research." Ron said.
"We can do it over Christmas break. Filch travel less in the halls in Christmas."
"Two weeks." Hermione whispered and then smiled at her friends. "Alright, Christmas it is."
Then. January 1980.
It really didn't seem reall…the fact that they were about to enter a courtroom that'll determined if they could keep their child. It felt sick, how could anyone decide on a subject like this?
Rose sat on the hard bench and waited for Remus who went to get her a glass of water. She wasn't sure if it was the pregnancy or the stress but she couldn't stop throwing up since the moment she opened her eyes. She could only hope that her stomach would stop doing it when the hearing started.
She saw Remus hurring towards her with a glass of water in his hand. When he got to her he handed her the water and then kneeled on the floor infront of her, rubbing her knee gently. She looked at him closly, he didn't have an easy night either. Lycanthropy often brought with her lack of sleep except on the days that neared the full moon and Remus looked as worse as he could look on a day that wasn't before or after the full moon.
"How do you feel?" he continued to stroke her knee slowly and she smiled shakly at him, covering his hand with her palm.
"Better, thank you." She answered. "You need some sleep." She added.
"I can't sleep." He shrugged. "I'll be alright after we'll get this over with."
"Remus…we might loo--"
"Shhh…" He stopped her from talking further. "Don't think about it now, okay?"
Rose nodded and was about to say something when a shadow fell on them. They raised their heads to meet Remus's parents. Remus, if possible, paled even more.
"Mom, Dad…what are you doing here?" he asked through clenched teeth.
"We thought we should be here for you." Sarah Lupin hugged Rose tightly and her husband Tom, nodded his head.
"But…who told you?" Remus asked, feeling all of a sudden like a very small boy. It's not gonna help them if the court sees his parents. They might think that they can't make it on their own and that wasn't good.
"I did…" Rose untangled herself from Mrs. Lupin's hug. "I talked to them when you dissappeared that day." Remus nodded and then turned his head to his parents.
"Were not planing to talk, son." Mr. Lupin said. "Were aware to the fact that this is your fight. But we needed to show our support." Remus understood and smiled at them.
"Yeah. Were here to show support too." Came the cheerfull voice of Sirius Black. The Lupins turned to see Sirius, James and Lily standing behind them. Remus was about to scold each and everyone of them but James opened his mouth before he could speak.
"Silence, Moony…were here for you and Rose. You can't run away from us everytime something happens, we won't let you."
Remus frowned for a moment and then grinned at his friends. Lily hugged Rose tightly. "How is your morning sickness?" she asked, smiling.
"Oh, Horrible. And yours?" Rose smirked. James and Sirius rolled their eyes.
"Where is Peter?" Remus asked.
"He is still in Paris for the ministry." Sirius replied.
They made some small talk until they heared their name on the speaker. Remus and Rose held each other's hand and entered the courtroom. Their friends and family sat behind them trying to support them as much as they could.
Remus and Rose pleaded their case professionaly, Sirius would say later that day. They did research and brought facts that the chances of their unborn child to inherit the Lycanthropy was scarce. They would have won any other pannel but this pannel had the orders to make an example out of the young couple. And so they did.
"How can you do this?!" Sirius exploded as the head of the pannel read the verdict. "Don't you have any conscience?"
"Order! Sit down!"
"No! I will not sit down! This is NOT your choice to make!"
"Sirius, sit down." James hissed and pulled his best friend down. "You're only making it worse…"
Sirius opened his mouth to respond but swallowed his words when he saw Remus looking at him. His throat clenched at the sight of his friends sad eyes and pale face and he mouthed his appology. Remus nodded his head and turned to look at the pannel of wizards again.
Rose closed her eyes when the head of the pannel read the verdict and refused to open them. It has to be a dream, a nightmere, nothing more. He couldn't possibly said that. He didn't say that she couldn't keep her child. She felt Remus comforting hand on her knee but her mind refused to be comforted.
"The suitble department in St.Mungo's Hospital will do the actuall part of the abortion." The wizards continued reading from the parchment unaware to the fact that no one really listened to him anymore. "The abortion will be as naturall as possible using the potion to accelerate birth." Rose shuddered and Remus held her hand tightly.
The wizard continued talking for a while and then dismissed them. Remus and Rose got up on shaky legs and left the room, followed by their friends and family. Rose collapsed on a nearby bench but then a voilent shudder racked her body and she hurried to the nearest bathroom. Remus looked at her, feeling helpless, fighting his own tears. He wanted this baby so much, he wasn't even sure his wife knew how much he wanted it. When she slept he used to caress her stomach lightly, noticing the very small changes in its size. And he hoped…
Hope is not going to help him right now. He sat on the bench and covered his face with his hands. After a moment of selfconsoling he turned to Lily. "Could you check on her, plea?" Lily nodded and hurried towards the . "Thanks for being here." He smiled faintly at his friends and his parents.
Lily entered the bathroom to find Rose washing her face. She seemed in shock and smiled at Lily who enveloped her in a hug. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.
"I wanted it so much." Her body shook from the sobs. "It was so amazing…to feel it growing inside of me…"
"I know…" Lily felt her own tears streaming down her cheeks. "You and Remus need to have children…you're both natural for it." Her friend only cried harder and Lily caressed her hair softly. "I'll work it out, Rose." She whispered and Rose raised her head to stare at her with bright eyes.
"What did you say?" she asked, stunned.
Lily was about to respond when someone knocked on the door.
"Rose? Lily? Is everything alright?" they heared Remus's worried voice from across the door.
"Yes…were coming right out…" Lily said and smiled at Rose. "We'll talk later." Rose nodded and opened the bathroom door to see her husband waiting for her. He enveloped her in his arms and they stood like that for a while, trying to support each other.
"Are you alright?" He whispered, kissing her hair lightly.
"I feel like I'm in some kind of a nightmere." She whispered.
"Nightmere or not, I'm here with you." He answered and kissed her brow. "You should get something to eat or you might pass out from all those visits in the bathroom. Wanna go the the 'Leaky Cauldron'?"
Rose didn't really want to go but knew she needed to eat something so she nodded and followed the others towards muggle London. Here, outside the ministry building the bright day and shining sun almost looked like they were mocking her. She wanted to open her mouth and scream, she wanted to see clouds and rain, she wanted other people to feel the pain she was feeling. One look at her husband pale face and she knew he felt the same.
Soon, they reached the pub that looked from the outside, to the muggle eyes like a deserted and very dirty place and walked inside. The pub was almost empty and they sat in a large table next to the exit. Remus and James went to get some food and drinks from Tom the innkeeper. Remus's parents offered their symphatic smiles and Rose smiled at them and thanked them softly. Sirius still looked like he could kill someone and Rose shook his hand lightly receiving a small smile that never reached his eyes.
Remus and James brought some food and Butterbeer. Rose started eating a piece of toast when her stomach made a sound of protest. She ignored it and continued to eat. No one talked around the table, everyone thought of the morning events.
Something was wrong. Rose looked around her and tried to dismiss the horrible sense of danger that overwhelmed her. No one else seems to feel it. But the feeling grew stronger and she grabbed Remus's hand. "We have to get out." She chocked.
"What?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Please…listen to me. Something isn't right…please, we have to get out of here." She said urgently and tried to pull Remus on his feet. "Please, Remus…"
Lily and James got up on their feet and Sirius followed them. Remus and Rose hurried after them. Lily and James were the first to leave the pub followed by Sirius. Rose pulled Remus after her, her heart beating fast and the sense of danger still consuming her. Remus turned to see his parents following them and then the hot sun blinded him.
The world around them exploded.
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My hands hurt…that was a long chapter for me…hope you enjoyed…
Thank's…Marlwolf, Chicablue18, SarahLupin, Siriussnape, Chibistar, GreenEyes, Diosa Alexia, Zelda-lotr, MrauderFan4ever, Vegea Kalorale, LOTRMoonyFanatic, Deathbycookie15, Remy's Gurl, Write-on3108, Lucky Estrella---stayed with bell? I think you got confused with 'Ties that bind', am I right? =)
Please Review and tell me what you think…
**Read my Remus story: "Under Cover" chapter 21 is up…**