Warning: Character death, along with disturbing imagery. Read at your own risk.
Consequences
By Neurotica
Twenty-Two
The night before Harry's final O.W.L. exam, Sirius, Remus, and Emmeline arrived at Hogwarts. Emmeline wanted to give the fifth year another Occlumency lesson before his last test—she said that the amount of studying Harry should have been doing for his exams could weaken his mind, making it easier for Voldemort to break in. Sirius and Remus accompanied her as security, as well as to wish Harry luck on his last O.W.L.
They sat and waited for Harry outside by the lake. Sirius looked well rested since his return to Number Twelve from the Ministry, though Remus suspected glamour charms had been used. The Auror had looked horrendous upon his return, and Remus didn't think only two nights of rest would have changed his appearance that much.
Neither of them spoke while they waited for Harry—both had too much on their minds, and weren't sure how to form their disoriented thoughts into words. Sirius played with the grass around his feet and stared out at the giant squid. There were so many things going through his mind that he wouldn't be surprised if his brain was no longer anything more than a pile of mush. A steady buzz of noise filled his ears as he tried to think of something else to occupy his mind. Then Remus spoke and his task was accomplished, nearly giving him a heart attack from the shock.
"I kissed Naomi," Remus said, his voice barely audible.
The grass Sirius had in his hand fell to the ground as he struggled to work out what Remus had just said. Once the words were comprehended, Sirius snapped his head around to Remus. The other wizard stared straight ahead. "What?" Sirius sputtered.
"The other night when I was waiting for you to get back, she showed up and we had a long talk. Just before I went to bed, she asked if she could kiss me, and so I kissed her..."
"Oh," Sirius said rather dumbly. "And?"
Remus raised an eyebrow, still staring at the lake. "And what?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "And when you kissed her, was there anything there?"
Remus looked at his best friend thoughtfully for a moment before a small smile crept on his face. "Nothing," he said a bit dreamily. "There was nothing at all..."
Sirius chuckled, thinking he knew where this conversation was heading.
"You know what I kept thinking?" Remus asked. Sirius shrugged. "That she's not Emmeline. I know that's a bit obvious, but I realize now I'm over Naomi."
"You've only just realized that?" Sirius asked.
"Well no, but..." Remus shrugged. "Naomi was my first love, Padfoot, and I know you know how tough that is to get over."
Sirius nodded. "I'm still not over Julia." He smiled sadly. "So does this mean you're going to finally admit that you love Emmeline?"
Remus only smiled and looked back out to the lake. Sirius shook his head knowingly. He'd known for years how much Remus missed Naomi, even if Remus never admitted it aloud. Remus had never been the type to just date on impulse like Sirius—he preferred getting to know somebody before escalating the relationship. Though Sirius wasn't sure just how deep Remus and Emmeline's relationship was—Remus usually kept quiet about those things—he'd heard from a few members of the Order that Emmeline had been spotted leaving Remus' bedroom one morning...
"I need a vacation," said a tired voice behind the two friends. They turned to find Harry grinning at them. The teenager came up and collapsed between them. He leaned his head on Remus' shoulder and sighed. "Please tell me school gets easier after O.W.L.s…"
Sirius laughed. "Do you want me to lie to you?" he asked. Harry rolled his eyes. "It can't be that bad, can it?"
Harry raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I'm going to fail Potions," he said with certainty.
"And why is that?" Remus asked patiently, looking down at Harry's head.
"Because Snape hates me," Harry said as if it should have been obvious to his guardians.
Remus hid a smile. "Harry, he's not too fond of us, either, but that doesn't mean you're going to fail Potions."
"Remus, I need an Outstanding to advance to N.E.W.T.s; right now I'm barely getting an Acceptable. I actually got a D on one of my papers that he graded with O.W.L. standards," Harry said flatly, sitting up to stretch and yawn.
"You actually got a Dreadful?" Sirius asked with a laugh. "Wow... Even I never got a Dreadful in Potions. James on the other hand..."
"But Snape wasn't your professor," Harry said defensively.
"And that is something I am thankful for every day." Harry glared at his godfather.
"How are you doing in Defense?" Remus asked, giving Sirius a look that plainly said, 'You're not helping.'
Harry shrugged. "Fine, I guess. It's not that hard actually," he said, his mood lightening.
"Mad-Eye says you're a natural," Sirius said proudly.
"And he's also said you put on quite a show during one of his defense group meetings," Remus said with a smile. "Sirius and I have been looking forward to seeing your patronus..." he added leadingly.
Harry smiled widely and took the hint. He stood and withdrew his wand from his robes, clearing his throat and glancing back to his guardians who stood from the grass for a better view. Harry thought of the night he'd found out about Remus' return. "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
Sirius and Remus' jaws dropped as they saw the shape of Harry's patronus shoot from the tip of the boy's wand. "Prongs..." Sirius breathed wide-eyed, watching the ghost-white stag gallop across the water.
Remus clapped Harry on the back, beaming. "Not bad, Harry," he said quietly. "Not bad at all..."
Sirius walked through the Department for Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures the following afternoon and nodded hello to a few of the people in their cubicles. Amos Diggory, who seemed to be having a rather frustrating conversation with a goblin, took time out from his work to glare at the passing Auror. Sirius returned the glare with interest. He'd always thought there was something off about Diggory... Ever since the World Cup a few years back when Diggory had insulted Remus, Sirius had less than friendly feelings for the wizard. Sirius suspected Diggory was jealous of Remus' appointment to the head of the department, and told Remus it was because Diggory just didn't have the brains to run a department.
Speaking of Remus, the werewolf was bent over a file, biting his lip. He was muttering under his breath, dictating to a quill that scratched against parchment as he read. Sirius quietly cleared his throat, and the quill dropped to the desk as Remus looked up.
"Hey, come on in," he said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing at his eyes. Sirius closed the door, greeted Remus' grindylow—who bared its teeth at the Auror—and sat across from his best friend. "How's your day going?"
"Well, it's almost over, so I'd say it's going pretty damn well." Sirius grinned. "Actually, I came to ask a favor of you. I sent Tonks home early, she's looking a bit ill again, so we need someone to cover her guard duty over the dentists tonight."
For nearly six months, the Order of the Phoenix had taken it upon themselves to keep watch over Hermione Granger's parents. Their daughter being one of Harry's best friends made her and her family a primary target for the Death Eaters and Voldemort. Arthur usually took most of the watches—he seemed rather fond of Mr. and Mrs. Granger—but Molly had asked him to be home more often as of late.
"What time was she supposed to be there?" Remus asked.
"Nine, to relieve Sturgis," Sirius said. "I'd be more than happy to do it, but I wanted to check if Tonks is all right. She's getting worse, Moony... I'm thinking of giving her a temporary leave of absence, just so she can, you know, grieve or whatever it is she needs to do..."
Remus nodded. "That'd probably do her some good, actually." He sighed. "Yeah, that's not a problem. I'll finish up here, head back to Number Twelve for a bite to eat, and I'll go over there."
"Thanks, I'll let everyone know, then," Sirius said. "Having trouble with the vampires?" he asked, gesturing to the file Remus had open on his desk. A shifty, waxy face bared its fangs at the two wizards. "What is it with things threatening me with their teeth today?" Sirius muttered.
Remus chuckled and looked back down at the file. "Yeah, we're having a bit of problem with them." He sighed. "They're saying there's a shortage on blood—St. Mungo's can't keep enough in stock for the demand. We're a little worried they might start attacking humans it they can't find any."
"I got a report the other day about a few vampires breaking into a Muggle blood bank in Surrey," Sirius said. "I passed it to Emerson, head of the DMLE, to take care of it—I have too much going on to deal with vampires committing misdemeanors. Do you think the shortage has anything to do with Voldemort?"
Remus shrugged. "It's possible. Voldemort's causing every other problem in the wizarding world, why not this one? But the vampires aren't as easy to turn to the dark side as werewolves are, so Voldemort would really have to work to get them. They prefer staying neutral. Even in the first war how many vampire attacks did you hear of?"
"No more than usual... So there's no chance they could have gone over to Voldemort?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's not what I said," Remus responded. "There's always a chance, and I wouldn't be surprised if Voldemort does have a few vampires in his ranks. But the vampires aren't too bothered with rights and all that like the werewolves are. They just don't really care. All they want is available supplies of blood so they don't have to use human prey. Now you have a good point with Voldemort causing the shortage. He'd make them think the Ministry was doing it, and if that's happened, the vampires might go to him. We just need to make sure that doesn't happen."
Sirius nodded. "How do the vampires feel about a werewolf doing all this for them?"
"They're not bothered by it, actually. I was a bit surprised," Remus said. "I'm sure you've heard the stories about vampires and werewolves and how much they despise each other... But I've known a few of them for a while now, since before I came to the Ministry, so for the most part, they're glad I'm here. They know I'll hear them out without prejudice."
"Do you ever work, Sirius?" asked an amused voice from the doorway.
"My dear Emmeline," Sirius said, turning to the witch. "I'm the Head Auror. There's not much for me to do but make sure my teams don't kill themselves." He grinned. "And what about you? Don't you have portkeys or something to authorize?"
Emmeline rolled her eyes but smiled as she crossed the office to sit beside Sirius. "I'll have you know, Mister Black, that I've just returned from Elephant and Castle. Some idiot decided it would be amusing to turn a park bench into a portkey. Three Muggles were transported to the eastern sea coast where they hovered on the bench over the ocean until we could get out there to rescue them." Sirius snorted a laugh and Emmeline playfully swatted him in the arm. "Anyway, we don't think it was Death Eaters, just Muggle baiters looking for a quick, cheap laugh. And if I didn't know any better, Sirius, I'd say you were behind it." She smirked.
"Oy, I take offense to that. Moony, keep your woman in line," Sirius said.
Remus raised an eyebrow. "Sorry, Padfoot, but I don't think I can do that. If Emmeline wishes to hex you for Muggle baiting, I can't say I'd do more than watch and laugh."
"I see how it is," Sirius said with narrowed eyes. "That's fine, Moony. Let Emmeline abuse me, and just stand there. And here I thought we were friends." He sighed dramatically. "Well, I'll leave you two to plot against me. I've lost yet another to the power of women. First James, now you... I wish you luck, Remus."
Without another word, Sirius stood and left the office. Remus and Emmeline stared at one another for a few moments before they both burst out laughing. "Are you sure he's not drinking on the job?" Emmeline asked after she'd sobered up a bit.
"When it comes to Sirius, I'm not sure about anything..." Remus sniggered.
Remus Apparated inside an alleyway in Surrey just past nine p.m. He'd had a bit of trouble getting away from Number Twelve—Molly had insisted he eat a fourth helping of dinner before leaving for guard duty. Not to mention Dung showed up right as he'd opened the front door and almost immediately dropped a load of cauldrons he was smuggling, setting off Sirius' dear mother.
Remus rushed out of the alleyway and down a suburban street toward the Grangers' house. He looked up into the sky as he walked and glared slightly at the half moon. The dark sky was a bit overcast tonight, and Remus suspected a wave of thunderstorms to hit soon. He turned a corner and set eyes on the large home that belonged to the two dentists. The Grangers were wonderful people. When the Order had arrived at their home and told them about the decision to guard them against Voldemort, they'd accepted it quite easily and thankfully. Hermione must have told them of the troubles in the wizarding world, because they didn't seem at all surprised by anything the Order had to say.
"Sturgis," Remus whispered to a bush near the front door, usually used as a hiding place for guard duty. "Sturgis, are you here?" The bush remained silent, causing Remus to suspect his fellow Order member had been invited in for tea—the Grangers normally invited them inside towards the end of their shifts.
A cloud moved aside and sickly green light flooded the front yard. With wide, hesitant eyes, Remus looked up to find the Dark Mark set just above the large white house. "Oh dear god," Remus muttered hoarsely, a sickening feeling filling his stomach. He drew his wand and ran to the front door. "Alohomora," he muttered hastily when he realized the door had been locked from the inside.
"Sturgis!" he shouted into the dark house. "Mr. and Mrs. Granger! It's Remus Lupin! Are you all right?" His question was silently answered when a strong smell of blood flooded his nostrils, causing him to gag a bit. He followed the bitter coppery scent to the sitting room and gagged again, nearly losing the four helpings of dinner Molly had made him eat.
Mrs. Granger was in the middle of the floor. It looked as though her throat had been ripped open by some sort of animal. A copious amount of blood was pooled around her body, which had been twisted in many odd angles.
At first, Remus saw no sign of her husband. But upon closer examination, the wizard found an ear on the floor leading to the kitchen. There was even more blood in the kitchen, and this time Remus had to turn around quickly to empty the contents of his stomach. The white walls were stained in deep crimson. The remains of Mr. Granger were scattered around every inch of the kitchen.
"Reductor curse," Remus muttered, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. The Death Eaters seemed to favor this particularly nasty way of murder as of late...
A muffled groan came from the hallway, and Remus spun around to face the door, his wand held tightly at the ready. Cautiously, he made his way to the hall, his eyes wide, his ears perked to hear any sound. He heard the groan again—it was coming from a cupboard under the stairs. He stood in front of the door and pulled it open quickly, pointing his wand inside. He lowered the wand immediately when he saw who was in the shadows of the cupboard.
"Sturgis," he said with relief. The other wizard's eyes snapped opened and he looked around disoriented, pushing himself against the wall of the cupboard.
"Get away!" he muttered wildly, his arms over his head in protection.
"Sturgis, it's Remus, you're all right."
"Re-Remus?" Sturgis responded, slowing lowering his arms and lifting his head. "Oh bloody hell, thank god. De-Death Eaters... They-they killed the G-Grangers... I tried to save them, Remus, but they s-stunned me, and threw me in here."
"It's okay, Sturgis," Remus said soothingly, lighting his wand and kneeling beside the wizard. "They're gone." At least I hope they are, Remus added silently. "Come on, let's get you out of here and back to Headquarters. We need to alert the others."
With Remus' help, Sturgis stood and they started out of the house, careful not to look into the sitting room. "G-Greyback..." Sturgis muttered weakly.
"What about him?" Remus asked sharply, a sinking feeling replacing the sickness he felt earlier.
"He was here... He attacked Mrs. Granger."
Remus stopped at the front door and raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean he attacked her? With a wand?"
Sturgis shook his head. "No... he ripped out her throat with his teeth... It was horrible, Remus..."
"I can imagine," Remus said, trying to remain calm. "Can you Apparate?" Again, Sturgis shook his head.
"Didn't think so... All right, take hold of my arm, we'll sidelong-Apparate back."
They arrived in front of Number Twelve and Sturgis immediately fell to his hands and knees, throwing up all over the lawn. Remus patted his back and helped him stand again. Number Twelve appeared before their eyes between its neighbors, and Remus rapped sharply on the door with his wand, leading a stumbling Sturgis inside.
"Here, sit on the stairs," Remus instructed quietly. "I'll get you a glass of Firewhiskey—I think we both need one about now..."
Sturgis sat and leaned his head against the wall, closing his eyes tightly. Remus left him and hurried down the stairs. Sirius, Emmeline, Arthur, Molly, Dung, and Tonks were talking over glasses of wine when he stumbled into the kitchen.
"Remus, what are you—" Emmeline said started, standing to meet him.
"The Grangers are dead," he panted. "You've got to get over there..." he added to Sirius.
"Bloody hell..." the Auror said grimly.
"You've got no idea..." Remus replied as Sirius and Tonks stood and went up the stairs.
"Where's Sturgis?" Molly asked quietly as Emmeline made Remus sit.
"Sitting on the staircase. Take him a glass of firewhiskey, he needs it..." Remus muttered, laying his head on the table.
"Was it bad?" Emmeline asked, rubbing circles on Remus' back.
"Horrible," Remus croaked. "Worst thing I've ever seen in my life."
Arthur sighed. "I'll contact Dumbledore. He'll need to tell Hermione..."
The next morning, Harry and Ron stumbled puffy-eyed out of the portrait hole and made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. Their exhaustion from O.W.L. exams had yet to fade, and though they were thrilled exams were finally over, neither could get their minds to think clearly. They muttered about summer plans —apparently, Ron's parents wanted to return to the Burrow; they'd missed their home in the country.
"Wish we could go back to the cottage," Harry muttered miserably as they entered the Hall. "Number Twelve isn't exactly the most cheerful place I've ever been to..."
The two friends sat across from Hermione and Ginny, nodding tired hellos, and began scooping eggs and bacon on their plates. Hermione started to ask George about one of the questions from their exams, but Ron silenced her instantly. "We've already gone through this, 'Mione," the redhead said thickly though his toast. "The bloody exams were bad enough first time 'round and we don't need to go through it again—"
"Oh no," Ginny gasped, pointing to the ceiling of the Great Hall. They all looked up as a flock of owls flew in bringing the morning's post.
The most obvious of the bunch was a brown barn owl with a small, dark purple sash around its chest bearing the Ministry of Magic seal. The whole Great Hall was silenced as the official-looking owl soared lower—they all knew what sort of news that owl was bringing. They'd seen these owls a few times since the beginning of term and the students who'd received them had left school for a few weeks. The owls were delivering news of deaths in families. Time seemed to slow down to a dreadful pace as the owl looked for whom it was delivering to. Sighs of relief broke through the tense silence as the owl passed most of students.
It flew over the Gryffindor table, nearing Harry and his friends, and Ron pushed himself away from the table, falling to the floor, and crawled backwards to press himself against the wall as far from the black letter as possible. The owl dropped the letter in the center of the table, gave a hoot of sympathy, and flew back out of the school again.
The Weasleys, Harry, and Hermione stared at the letter for long moments, wide-eyed and pale before Harry reached out a shaking hand to pick it up. He examined the red wax Ministry seal closely, biting his lip.
"Who's it for, Harry?" Ginny asked in a trembling voice when Harry turned the letter over.
His jaw clenched tightly and he looked up, passing the letter over the table to Hermione. "I'm so sorry, Hermione," he said quietly, not wanting to show his selfish relief that Sirius and Remus had not been the ones murdered...