Consequences
By Neurotica
Eight
Sirius landed his shining black motorbike on the driveway of Lily and James Potter's home just after midnight on a muggy night in mid-July. The letter James had sent him by owl just under an hour before was still crumpled in his hand. His stomach was filled with a sense of foreboding as he recalled the letter's words: 'We need to talk'. That was it. There was no explanation, nor was there a signature.
Sirius set his bike on its kickstand, climbed off, and quickly made his way up the front sidewalk. Without knocking, he opened the Potters' front door. He noticed immediately that the entire house was dark, save one light in the upstairs hallway and one in the kitchen. The house was quiet—something quite foreign to Sirius' ears; between James and Harry, one would be lucky to find five minutes of peace, even at midnight.
Sirius crossed through the hallway to the kitchen. Lily sat at the table, her back to him, her head buried in her hands.
"Lily?" Sirius said quietly.
The witch jumped visibly and turned around in her chair. Her eyes were rimmed with red, though it seemed to be from exhaustion and stress rather than tears. "Hey, Sirius," she said rather hoarsely.
"What's wrong?" Sirius asked concernedly, sitting beside the red-haired witch at the table.
"We just got home from Hogwarts," she answered with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Yeah?" Sirius said cautiously. Lily nodded and looked down at the table. When he realized she wasn't going to elaborate, he asked, "Why were you at Hogwarts?"
"Albus wanted to speak with us," she said flatly.
Sirius nodded, still perplexed, and looked around the kitchen for something else to talk about. "Where's James?"
"Putting Harry to bed. He's been up there for a while..." Sirius didn't fail to notice how Lily's words seemed to be caught in her throat.
"Okay. So... what did Dumbledore want?"
Lily looked up but seemed to hesitate. "James should be the one to tell you."
"Tell me what?" Sirius asked quickly as he watched Lily look back to the table. "Lily, what's going on?"
"I can't, Sirius," she whispered, still not looking at Sirius.
"Hey," Sirius said quietly, reaching for one of Lily's hands. "We're friends, right?" Lily nodded. "So tell me what's going on. I don't want to hear it from James."
Lily finally looked up and seemed to consider the wizard before speaking. "Lord Voldemort wants my son dead," she said in a tone of voice Sirius had never heard her use before. The tone almost threw Sirius off from the words she had spoken.It was cold, dangerous.
"He... what?" Sirius said, completely bewildered.
Lily sighed. "Before Harry was born, there was a prophecy made. It said that a child born at the end of July to parents that had thrice defied the Dark Lord would have power the Dark Lord knows not. The child would be marked as the Dark Lord's equal, and would have the power to destroy him. It could mean Harry or another boy born around the same time."
"Longbottom..." Sirius whispered, staring at Lily with wide eyes.
"Yeah..."
"So... what does that mean, exactly?" Sirius asked after a few moments of silence.
"We don't know," said a hoarse voice from the doorway.
Lily and Sirius turned their heads to face James. Sirius felt his heart break over the look on his best friend's face. He looked miserable, confused, lost. Slowly, James moved to sit on Lily's other side. "Dumbledore gave us a few options, none of which we want to take, but we obviously can't just sit here and wait for Voldemort to come and find us..."
"What are the options?" Sirius asked almost fearfully.
"Well," James began in a forced calm that made Sirius uneasy. "We can move some place he will never think to look. Or we can go under the Fidelius Charm. Or, and this is just my suggestion, by the way, we can find Voldemort and kill the sick son of a bitch before he has a chance to hurt my family." The last part came out as a growl, causing Sirius to finch a bit. Rarely did one hear James Potter with such anger in his voice.
"But see, there's a problem," Lily said quietly. The two wizards looked at her. "The spy," she finished in a barely audible whisper.
"That is a problem," Sirius said, a small growl in his own voice. He already had a suspicion as to who the spy in their circle of friends could be. He'd known for a few months already. But he knew better than to bring it up to Lily and James again, especially now. "Whatever you choose, I'll do whatever I can to help."
James smiled weakly. "Thank you, Padfoot."
"Anytime, Prongs."
"Do me a favor, Padfoot?"
"Anything, Prongs."
"Let go of my wife's hand."
The night before the new term at Hogwarts was to begin, Molly arranged a small party in the kitchen basement of Number Twelve. It was mostly to congratulate Ron's and Hermione's becoming the new Gryffindor Prefects, but the Order of the Phoenix was also celebrating the return of one of their own. The day before, Madam Pomfrey had declared Emmeline completely recovered and allowed her to leave Hogwarts to return to her daily life. At Dumbledore's request, Emmeline would be staying in one of the spare bedrooms at Order Headquarters as a precaution.
Since their evening away from Number Twelve, Sirius had noticed Harry to be in slightly better spirits. They'd talked, finally, about everything that had been happening in the year since Voldemort's return. Apparently, Harry actually did have an interest in girls (something Sirius had been starting to wonder about). There was a girl, Harry'd told Sirius, that he'd fancied for a few years, but never had the courage to ask her on a date. He wouldn't tell Sirius the girl's name, leading the rather intelligent Auror to believe he already knew said girl...
The atmosphere in the kitchen was light that evening, a first in many weeks. Many of those present still skirted around Sirius as though he was liable to explode. Any and all mention of Remus was carefully avoided around the Auror and his godson, and no one dared ask the whereabouts of Kreacher...
Percy had even dropped by for a rare visit (he'd moved in with his girlfriend to be closer to work in London) to congratulate the new Prefects. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Mad-Eye never let him out of their sight. Currently, the third oldest Weasley son sat against a wall with a punch glass in his hand, watching the festivities around him.
Sirius had become increasingly protective of Emmeline since her return the night before. He didn't seem to want to allow the last link he had with his best friend to wander too far. Emmeline didn't mind; after the last few weeks of recovery, and what she'd endured before that, she welcomed the constant company.
Before a large cake had been sliced, toasts to Hermione and Ron were made. Most were the standard congratulatory speeches, stating how proud the toaster (Molly) was of the both of them. Fred and George's toast more resembled a eulogy—they were deeply saddened to lose their brother to such a terrible fate. They even ended by crying loudly onto one another's shoulders.
As the night grew later, Molly sent the students to bed, much to their protests. To Harry's shock, even Sirius agreed with the Weasley matriarch. Of course, as far as Harry could tell, Sirius hadn't been himself for the last few weeks. No one else noticed, but Sirius was faking his good mood that night; he'd laughed a little too hard at Arthur's bad attempts at jokes; he'd smiled a bit too often. The hollow look Remus had once described to Harry was slowly returning to his godfather's eyes. Harry often wondered if Sirius believed everything he said about finding Remus. It made the teen feel a bit guilty to be leaving his godfather the next day. No matter what his friends tried to tell him, Harry knew his godfather would be alone. Without Remus and Harry, Sirius was alone.
Tonks stood next to the snack table, careful to keep from drawing any attention to herself, and watched Percy Weasley. The wizard was staring with an unreadable expression to where Emmeline and Sirius were talking with Molly and Arthur. Kingsley caught the witch's eye and raised a dark eyebrow in question. Tonks shook her head slightly, and motioned for the wizard to come over to the table. He excused himself from the conversation he'd been having with McGonagall and Mad-Eye, and crossed the kitchen.
The two Aurors turned away from the party, pretending to fill their plates with more food while they talked.
"What's up?" Kingsley asked quietly.
"Percy," Tonks answered.
Kingsley glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "What about him?" he asked suspiciously.
"He's acting... oddly," she said lamely.
"Tonks, Percy is a Weasley. Most Weasleys act oddly. Look at Arthur."
Tonks smacked him in the shoulder. "That's not what I meant, git. He's not himself tonight. From what Ginny and Hermione have told me about him, he never passes up an opportunity to talk about his work, or his accomplishments. I haven't heard him say more than ten words tonight."
"Maybe he's busy with work? Maybe he's just tired?" Kingsley suggested.
"That's another thing. He works at the Ministry, right? How often do you see him wandering around?"
"He works three floors above us. Just because we don't see him everyday doesn't mean he's not there."
"But—"
"Tonks, I'll say this again: He's a Weasley. Molly and Arthur have raised him well. There's nothing odd going on with him."
"Have you seen the way he's been looking at Emmeline tonight?"
Kingsley turned from the table to glance between Percy and Emmeline. "Maybe he fancies her," he said, his eyes dancing in amusement.
"No," Tonks said. "He knows something, Kingsley."
"You've spent way too much time with Sirius and Mad-Eye." Tonks glared at him. "Look, if it will make you feel better, I'll keep a closer eye on Percy. Just do us all a favor and don't mention this to Sirius right now. He's got enough on his plate as it is."
Shortly after that conversation, Percy left the party stating he had an early day at work the next morning. Dumbledore and McGonagall followed to prepare for the students' arrivals at Hogwarts. They needed to speak with the temporary Potions professor since their current one was detained for the time being—Sirius found it hard to keep a straight face as Dumbledore explained this. Defense Against the Dark Arts wasn't a problem; Mad-Eye had agreed to teach for another year. This fact seemed to lessen Sirius' nerves about sending Harry back to Hogwarts.
Molly and Arthur called it a night at midnight, leaving Sirius, Emmeline, Kingsley, and Tonks in the kitchen. The four of them retrieved a couple bottles of wine left by Dung the week before from the pantry and exchanged casual conversation for a few hours—during which, Sirius revealed how unobservant he'd been at Hogwarts when Emmeline told Kingsley and Tonks she'd been a year below the Marauders.
"I actually busted you four during one of my patrols in your seventh year." Emmeline grinned at Sirius.
"You were that Prefect!" Sirius said, realization finally dawning. "The frizzy-haired girl with the thick glasses!"
Emmeline cringed. "Yeah, that was me."
"Wait," Tonks said, a grin forming on her face. "You actually busted the Marauders during a prank?"
"Yep," Emmeline said proudly, taking a sip of wine. "Of course, James was Head Boy at the time, so I didn't have much authority in the situation."
"Now I remember you," Sirius muttered. "James used to think you followed us around."
Emmeline hid a grin in her glass. Kingsley laughed loudly. "Were you one of those girls obsessed with Sirius and James, Emmeline?"
"No, definitely not," Emmeline assured them, laughing at Sirius' fallen face. "I spent more time in the library than at the Quidditch pitch, if you catch my drift."
Sirius' trademark grin returned. "You fancied Remus!" he stated.
Emmeline shrugged. "He intrigued me. Still does as a matter of fact," she muttered. "But he'd always been off limits because of Naomi Watts."
"Who's Naomi?" Tonks asked.
"No one important," Sirius said quickly. "Well, he's not off limits anymore, Miss Vance." The others didn't mention the fact that Remus was still missing. Sirius was in a good mood for a change, and they didn't want to ruin it. "Didn't you two keep in touch after the first war? You seemed to get on all right at Order meetings."
"Well, I don't think Remus was quite in the mood for anything after all that. I was sort of seeing someone at that point, anyway."
"Yeah? Who?" Tonks inquired.
Emmeline glanced uncomfortably at Sirius. "Er, that's not really important," she said hastily.
The others raised their eyebrows. "Come on, Emmeline," Sirius said. "You can tell us."
"Sirius, you really don't want to know this," Emmeline insisted.
"It can't be that bad," Kingsley said. "I mean, it's not like you dated Snape or anything." Everyone but Emmeline laughed.
"Oh my god!" Sirius said loudly, when he noticed the look on the witch's face. "You dated Snape?"
"Keep your voice down," Emmeline said. "Yes, Severus and I dated for about two years."
"But... why?" Sirius asked incredulously. "That's just... wrong…"
Emmeline rolled her eyes. "He was a nice guy." Three jaws dropped in unison. "He was! The only reason we broke up was because he was so committed to his work."
Sirius looked as if he'd be sick. "But you're nice... and he's... an asshole..."
Emmeline chuckled and patted Sirius' arm comfortingly. "There are no feelings left between Severus and myself anymore, Sirius. At least not on my part. He became a bit too hateful over the years."
"I don't think I'll ever get that image out of my head," Sirius muttered.
"Let me help you with that," Kingsley said, filling Sirius' empty wine glass.
Next morning, Number Twelve was filled with the noise of clanking trunks, shrieking portraits, and Molly's happy voice telling the students to get a move on or else. Sirius, Kingsley, and Emmeline would take them to King's Cross Station by way of a Ministry of Magic car.
Over a hasty breakfast, Emmeline pulled Harry aside to give him some last minute instructions on continuing his Occlumency. He hadn't had a proper lesson in almost a month with everything going on around Headquarters, so he would have to work doubly hard to maintain what he'd learned. Emmeline would visit Hogwarts periodically—according to Harry's school and Quidditch schedule—to help him some more.
The ride to the train station was relatively uneventful. Hermione's pet cat, Crookshanks, had been sent along with her school trunk by her parents. It'd been raining quite heavily that morning, and Fred's trunk hadn't been properly secured. The trunk had sprung open while Sirius and Kingsley carried it to the car. On top of the school robes and books, was a box of wet-start fireworks. Sirius wasn't sure the scratches he'd sustained from Crookshanks would ever completely heal.
Once on the other side of the barrier to Platform 9 ¾, the trunks and pets were loaded and the Weasleys and Hermione boarded the train while Sirius said goodbye to Harry.
"Take care of yourself," Sirius said gruffly. "Don't worry too much, either. Just work on school and on Quidditch. There are four Order members at Hogwarts, should you need them for anything. Don't hesitate to tell them if you have another dream." Harry already knew all this, but let Sirius go on with his speech. "And if you need me, you've got the two-way mirror—don't lose it this time—and I'll be there as soon as I can. Got it?"
"Yes, Sirius," Harry said.
Sirius hugged his godson tightly, realizing how tall he'd gotten since last year at this time. With a kiss on top of Harry's unruly head of hair, Sirius released him. "You better get going. Be good, and don't wander too far from the castle."
"I won't, Sirius."
"Love you, Harry."
"Love you, too, Sirius."
Sirius smiled and winked, nudging Harry to the train just in time for the last boarding call. The three Order members waited for the train to disappear around the corner and made to Apparate to the Ministry. Just before he disappeared, Sirius spotted Narcissa Malfoy glaring at him from the other end of the platform, a house-elf with large, tennis ball green eyes peaking out from behind her legs.