Altercations
By Neurotica
Thirteen
The front door of the cottage opened late on a Saturday afternoon and Remus stepped over its threshold gratefully. He and Arabella had arrived at King's Cross Station two hours ago and he'd sidelong-Apparated her back to Privet Drive. Harry hadn't lived there for over ten years, which had been her original reason for moving there, but she didn't seem to have any reason to leave. Personally, Remus would have been gone two seconds after Harry had portkeyed out of there.
Once Arabella had dropped her things off at her home, the pair had gone to Hogwarts to fill Dumbledore in on their trip. The Headmaster had been quite interested in Fenrir Greyback's appearance at the pub in Berlin. According to Dumbledore, the werewolf had been missing in action for some time—the last he'd been seen by either of the Order's spies was at a Death Eater meeting following an argument with a wizard outside a pub that most of the Order of the Phoenix had witnessed. Greyback was probably trying to rally the werewolves in Germany, and Remus had always been at the top of the list that Voldemort wanted on his side. Remus assured Dumbledore he would be careful, and he returned home wondering what it was about him the Death Eaters wanted so badly.
The living room and kitchen of the cottage were empty, with no sign of his best friend or his girlfriend. He walked down the hall to his bedroom and found Emmeline folding clothes over the bed, his old record player playing quietly in the background. As quietly as he could, he set down his bag and snuck up behind her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist and kissing her neck.
"Sirius, we can't do this now," she said with a giggle. "Remus will be home any minute..."
He ceased his assault of her neck. "Oh, you're funny," he said flatly.
She turned to face him, grinning. "I try," she said before kissing him. "Welcome home."
"Speaking of my idiotic best friend, where is he?" Remus asked when they came up for air. He released her, and they sat on the bed.
"At the Ministry," she replied. "He's talking with Bones about going back. After his appointment with the Healers the other day, he went up to Auror Headquarters. He's none too happy with how Dawlish is running things."
"Who'd he kill?"
"Surprisingly, no one," Emmeline said. "Yet, at least. I have a feeling Rufus Scrimgeour is going to have a few problems when Sirius gets back."
"Why do you think that?"
"Because Sirius said 'Scrimgeour's going to have problems when I get back.'" Emmeline grinned. Remus laughed. "Oh, and by the way, I don't recommend opening the hall closet."
"Why?" Remus asked cautiously.
"Sirius wanted to welcome you home and he enlisted the help of a box of dungbombs to do so."
Remus nodded gravely. "Thanks for the warning."
Emmeline winked and finished folding laundry. Once through with that, she crawled up on the bed beside Remus, smiled briefly, and began kissing him passionately. She pulled away slightly to catch her breath, and smiled at the dopey expression on his face. "I missed you," she whispered.
"It's only been three days," he breathed, his eyes still closed.
"Way too long," was the last sensible thing spoken for a long while.
The Gryffindor common room was filled with excited chatter as the house Quidditch team climbed through the portrait hole. They'd just beaten Slytherin 280-70, and that put them in the lead for the House Cup. The Hogwarts house-elves provided food and drinks for the celebrating Gryffindors, and the inevitable party went on well through the evening.
But the hero of the match wasn't in a celebrating mood. Harry sat on a chair in a corner, butterbeer in hand, staring out into the party unseeingly. Malfoy hadn't been playing that day. According to Ron, he'd come down with a cold and had spent the day in the Slytherin dorms. It was odd, Harry thought, that Malfoy would miss a chance to beat Gryffindor at Quidditch (or at least, try to beat them). None of Harry's friends seemed very concerned about Malfoy's absence, and Harry couldn't for the life of him figure out why he should care so much. If Malfoy was sick, all the better for the rest of the school.
Harry sighed, going over the last few months in his head. The only time Harry ever saw the Malfoy was during Potions lessons; he rarely went to meals with the rest of the school anymore, and when he did go, he would have the same grey, sickly look about him as when the term began. What was it that kept Malfoy away so often?
Ron and Hermione said Malfoy had also been missing Prefect meetings and rounds. Harry had searched the Marauder's Map, hoping to catch him somewhere he wasn't supposed to be. But every time he looked, Malfoy was nowhere to be seen. Harry recalled what Sirius had told him about his dad missing from the map, and how James had gone to Hogsmeade. The only way Malfoy could get to the village between Hogsmeade weekends would be to use one of the secret passages out of the castle. But that brought another question: what would cause Malfoy to sneak out of school?
"Is there a reason you're being so antisocial?" Ginny asked, sitting on the table in front of him.
He sighed. "Just thinking," he muttered.
"About?"
He looked up at her, wondering if she would think him mental. She already knows I'm mental, he thought. "Why wasn't Malfoy at the match today?"
Ginny raised her eyebrows. "That's what you've been thinking about all day?" she asked disbelievingly. "Harry, what do you care if Malfoy' sick?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. That's the problem."
"You're hopeless, you know that?"
"Remus says that about me and Sirius all the time."
"Well, it's true," she said matter-of-factly. "Now, stop thinking about that git Draco Malfoy, and enjoy yourself for a change. Here, have a chocolate cauldron."
Harry caught the chocolate Ginny tossed at him and let her pull him out of his chair and into the crowd of Gryffindors. It didn't take long for Harry to get caught up in Ron's demonstration of Fred and George's Headless Hats before he stopped thinking about why Malfoy wasn't at the match. In fact, he didn't think about it for the rest of the night.
Down in the basement of the cottage, Remus stared at the item in his hand with a smile. It was one of the few things his mother had left him before her death and it was still in perfect condition, even after having been passed down through five generations. He thought he'd lost it many years ago, and he was devastated to think he had, but he'd discovered it in a box after moving back into the cottage in June. He knew exactly what to do with it now that he had it again—it was just a matter of finding the right moment. Of course, if he asked Sirius, the right moment was six months ago. But Remus had to make sure the time was perfect. He remembered the story his mum told him when she gave him the item, and he wanted that...
"Moony! What are you doing down there?" Sirius called from the top of the stairs. "Dinner's almost ready!"
"I'm on my way!" he called back, snapping the small box shut and putting it safely in the pocket of his trousers. "Just... tidying up a bit!" He looked around him, frowning at the dozens of boxes of mementos that filled the small room of the basement. Shrugging, he restacked the boxes he'd been sorting through and went up the wooden staircase to the kitchen.
"Smells delicious," he said, sniffing the air. "What are we having?"
"Spaghetti and meatballs with my mum's special sauce," Emmeline smiled, looking up from the parchment she was writing on. "So you never told us how your trip went..."
Remus stiffened a bit as he stirred the sauce on stove. "It was fine," he said hastily. "I, er, ran into Fenrir Greyback," he added, trying to sound casual.
There was silence followed by, "What?" shouted by Sirius and Emmeline in unison.
He slowly turned to them "Yeah," he said grimly. "I was in this little pub, having a drink, and he just sort of walked in."
"Did he say anything?" Sirius asked.
Remus shrugged. "Oh, the usual... Nice weather we've been having. Join Voldemort or die. That sort of thing."
"That's it?" Emmeline said.
Remus nodded. "Same old threats. What will happen if I decline his offers—he'll kill my family, all that. But I didn't see him again after that night."
"How'd he know you were there?" Emmeline asked. Remus missed the glance she sent Sirius as he reached into the fridge for a few butterbeers.
"I don't know that he did," Remus replied, sitting at the table and passing the bottles around. "He seemed surprised to see me sitting there."
"So he's recruiting again," Sirius said. "I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing attacks on a regular basis."
"Don't say that," Emmeline chided him. "It is odd, though. Greyback should know how close you are to Dumbledore, Remus. You're probably closer to him than the majority of the Order. He ought to know you'd go back and tell Dumbledore you saw him in Germany. You did tell Dumbledore, didn't you?"
"Of course," Remus answered. "Greyback's always been after me, Emmeline. During the first war, when the rest of the werewolves were running to Voldemort, I was the only one to fight with Dumbledore."
"Why would they want you, though?"
"Because he's brilliant," Sirius said simply. "He's powerful, and he's not as impulsive and violent as the other werewolves. Voldemort knows he could benefit from having Remus on his side."
"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or not," Remus said dryly.
"It's the truth. Dumbledore trusted you with the philosopher's stone, and to put all those charms around Harry's prophecy. I can't think of many people who have Dumbledore's trust the way you do," Sirius said. "This won't be the last time you've heard from Greyback, either. Voldemort's wanted you since we got out of Hogwarts."
"Wanted me dead, you mean?"
"Only on occasion," Sirius said, shrugging. Remus rolled his eyes. "Why do you think he needed you for the Albanian werewolves?"
"You know, I still don't understand that," Emmeline said, floating bowls of spaghetti to the table. "Why would Voldemort think Remus could get them on his side?"
"I was the one who talked them into staying on our side in the first place," Remus explained. "They listened to me, trusted me, and understood what it would mean if they joined him. They knew Voldemort would use them as weapons against innocent people, and they didn't want that. The Albanian colonies were two of the very few werewolf packs that lived peacefully. Not once did they attack people in the villages—they fed on animals in the forests." He shrugged. "I'm guessing that Voldemort thought if he captured and turned me, I'd be able to turn them."
"So why did Voldemort have them killed if he wanted them on his side?" Sirius asked.
"He's Voldemort," Remus said simply. "If he can't turn somebody, he kills them. That's what I thought happened to Lily and James before you told me about the prophecy."
A soft pop sounded in the living room and three heads snapped in that direction simultaneously. Dumbledore entered the kitchen a moment later. "I apologize for interrupting your meal, but there has been an attack in Surrey."
"What happened?" Emmeline asked immediately.
"A hurricane, it seems, has swept through Little Whinging and its surrounding areas, destroying everything in its path. Ten are dead. Including Arabella Figg," Dumbledore said quietly.
"What?" Sirius breathed.
Remus dropped his head into his hands. Emmeline rubbed his back. "Is there anything we can do?" she asked quietly.
"At the moment, no," Dumbledore said. "Based on the information I've received from the Ministry, they are handling the Muggle witnesses."
"A hurricane?" Sirius asked dubiously. "How could a bloody hurricane go through Surrey? That's a cover story for the Muggles, right?"
"One would think so, Sirius, but alas, it is not," Dumbledore said. "There was indeed a hurricane through Surrey. I believe it is possible that Lord Voldemort has learned to control the weather."
"That's impossible," Remus said hoarsely, his eyes oddly blurred as he lowered his hands. "Nobody can control the weather."
"There is Dark Magic that can cause rain in secluded areas, but you are correct; a normal wizard cannot control the weather," Dumbledore said.
"But Voldemort isn't a normal wizard," Emmeline whispered. Dumbledore inclined his head to her. "Do you have any idea how this could have happened?"
"I am afraid not," Dumbledore said gravely. "I have learned many things about Lord Voldemort since his youth, one of those things being he enjoys experimenting with new magic. I told you in the days following his return that he absorbed the magical traces left behind by Lily and James Potter, and I believe today was a result of one of the experiments using their magic."
Emmeline, Remus, and Sirius returned to the cottage late in the afternoon following Arabella's funeral. Though she was a Squib, she'd been buried in the Godric's Hollow cemetery alongside those she fought with and for during the wars, where she belonged. Remus collapsed with a heavy sigh on the sofa, not bothering to go change out of his dress robes. It had only been a few hours between the time he'd last seen Arabella and when she'd died. Perhaps if they'd taken a later train out of Berlin, or had spent longer at Hogwarts, or even if he'd invited her to the cottage for dinner, she'd still be alive.
"It was nice ceremony," Sirius said quietly, sitting in his armchair. Remus was slightly surprised at how hard his best friend had taken the news of Arabella's death. Of course, at Order meetings during the first war, he spent half his time jokingly arguing with her. She'd been one of the few people, besides his friends, he'd actually enjoyed talking to.
Remus nodded in agreement to Sirius' statement, and laid his head back to stare at the ceiling. Another Order member lost. Who would be next?
Perhaps the real question was how it would happen. Voldemort was finding all sorts of new ways to off his enemies as the months went on. He was growing stronger, too strong, and the Order only had so many ways to fight him. But there had to be a way... If they didn't find a way to destroy him for good soon, they'd be overtaken, and the world would be doomed.
"Remus," Emmeline said, waving a hand in front of his face. He snapped his head up and looked at her. "I've been saying your name for fifteen minutes."
"Oh, sorry," he said hoarsely. "Where's Sirius?" he added, finding the armchair deserted.
"He went for a bike ride to clear his head," she answered.
He nodded. "Good idea. I wouldn't mind a long walk about now. Would you care to join me?"
"Sure," she said quietly. "You want to change out of your robes first?"
He smiled slightly, realizing she'd already changed, and nodded. "Be back in a second," he said before going to their bedroom. He reached into his sock drawer, moving aside underwear, and found a small black box. He stared at it for a moment, then looked down the hallway to where Emmeline waited for him. Looking back into the drawer, he picked up the box, opened it, and ran a finger gently across the item it held. After he changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, he reopened the drawer and took the box, placing it in his pocket again.
"Now's a good a time as any," he thought aloud with a shaky sigh before going back to Emmeline.
He had never dealt with death well, no matter who it was. There were very few people in the world that he believed deserved to die, and Arabella Figg was not one of them. When his brother's death had reached his ears fifteen years ago, though he hadn't spoken with Regulus in years, he'd taken it hard. Sirius had always believed his brother's life could have been spared if only he, Sirius, had tried in some way to help him. Sirius had never asked his brother why he'd joined Voldemort, but he had a strong feeling it had something to do with Bellatrix. Bellatrix had taken Regulus under her wing when he was still in Hogwarts, since Sirius had told his cousin to go suck an egg when she'd tried to persuade him to join Voldemort. Regulus had never had much common sense, and he'd always believed everything his mother ever told him about how Voldemort and his followers had the right idea.
Sirius hadn't always loathed his brother; when they were young, they'd been rather close. Only when Sirius had befriended James Potter and his best friend, Naomi Watts—both children of blood traitors—did Regulus start to turn on him.
One thing that Sirius regretted in regards to his brother was not trying to keep him from their family's beliefs. Regulus was a coward most of his life, and hid behind his mother. Sirius had met his brother in battle once before his death. The younger wizard hadn't shown any mercy to his big brother, so Sirius hadn't held back, either. Regulus left the battle bleeding from a stomach wound, and Sirius didn't pity him one bit. They were enemies, no longer brothers, and Sirius was sure if Regulus had the chance, the Death Eater would have killed him.
"That food's not poisoned, you know," Naomi said from across the table, watching him closely.
He ceased pushing his potatoes around the plate with his fork and tried to smile at her. "Sorry," he said. "Just thinking."
"Don't hurt yourself," she teased quietly. "What are you thinking about?"
He hesitated only for a second. "Regulus," he said. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I was just thinking about how different we were, even though we grew up in the same place."
"You were different people," she said, reaching across the table for his hand. "You knew what was right and he listened to your parents. He was weak-minded, easily molded to fit what your mum wanted her sons to be."
Sirius nodded. "He could have had the same chance as me, though. Or I could have gone a totally different way. I could've listened to my parents, believed them, and I could be the one with the Dark Mark."
"But you're not," she said firmly. "Do you remember how surprised everyone was at school when they found out who you were and what house you were in?"
Sirius smirked. "I think the professors were more surprised than anybody," he said. "I think they all expected me to be like my parents. I know McGonagall did... Slughorn was disappointed when Regulus got into Slytherin and I was in Gryffindor. Did you know that?"
Naomi shook her head. "Slughorn's weird, though. How's Harry handling him, by the way? Bet old Sluggy's on cloud nine teaching the Boy-Who-Lived."
"I imagine he is," Sirius said. "But we told Harry early on to avoid him as much as possible, and as far as I know, Slughorn's leaving him be."
"That's good..."
Sirius nodded and was about to say something else when there was a knock at Naomi's door. Her eyes widened as she looked from the door to Sirius. "You've got to hide," she whispered urgently, vanishing his meal. "Go into the bedroom and close the door."
"Who is it?" he asked, standing.
"I don't know," she replied, standing and moving to the door. "Go, quick."
As much as he hated hiding, he did as he was told. After all, he didn't have a wand, and if it was a Death Eater at the door, they'd probably kill both him and Naomi. Naomi waited for him to close the door before greeting her visitor.
He listened hard as Naomi spoke quietly to her guest. By the sound of it, it was Narcissa in the front room. Sirius raised an eyebrow as he listened to the two witches talk, though he could barely make out their conversation. He thought he heard the words "Draco" and "mission." Naomi had told the Order a few months ago that Lucius' son had received the Dark Mark, but why would Voldemort give a sixteen-year-old a mission, and what kind of mission was it?
Narcissa's visit only lasted a few minutes, and once Sirius heard the front door close, he opened the bedroom door. "What was that all about?" he asked as Naomi turned to face him.
She sighed. "Narcissa's asked me to watch over Draco," she replied.
"Why?"
"I'm not entirely sure, actually," she said, sitting on the back of the sofa. "The way she talked when she first asked me, it sounded like she would have liked me to take him to Dumbledore to keep him away from Lucius."
"And have you?"
She shook her head. "I've barely seen him since the Hogwarts term started. He can't leave school grounds, obviously. And I'm supposed to be loyal to Voldemort. If I walked into Hogwarts without anything happening to me, don't you think someone would be a bit suspicious?"
"Have you thought any more about going into hiding yourself?" Sirius asked, standing in front of her.
Again, she sighed. "You ask me that every time we see each other, Sirius," she said warily.
"That's because I'm still waiting on your answer."
"I've given you my answer! I can't do it! No matter what you say, they will find me, and they will kill me!" she shouted.
"So you'd rather risk your life every goddamned day than stay somewhere safe? Yeah, that makes a lot of bloody sense, Naomi!" he yelled back.
"You just don't get it," she muttered.
"I get a lot more than you seem to think I do. Why won't you let us help you, Naomi? I want to be with you, but I can't keep going to sleep at night wondering if you're going to make it out of another meeting with Voldemort. Remus told you before that Dumbledore can keep you safe. I can keep you safe. Why won't you let me?" he asked, holding her hips and bringing her to him.
"Just give me some more time," she requested softly after a few minutes if thinking. "I told you that Voldemort plans to go after you and Remus before the New Year. Just let me find out what he's going to do. Once that passes, I promise I will go into hiding. All right?"
"You promise?"
She nodded.
"Okay," he said softly. "After the New Year, then."
She smiled and slipped her arms around his waist, tilting her face up to kiss him.
The sun was beginning to set as Remus and Emmeline came upon a stream in the forest. They'd been walking for nearly an hour while Remus gathered the nerve carry out his plan. The couple sat silently on a fallen tree trunk, watching the stream flow in front of them.
"Remus," Emmeline said quietly. "Are you all right? You've been awfully quiet today..."
Remus nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just... thinking..."
"About Arabella?"
Remus shook his head. "About you," he said quietly. She looked at him questioningly. "Emmeline, there's something I want to show you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small black box. He opened it and showed her the thin golden band with three simple diamonds. He took a deep breath and looked up into her wide eyes.
"This was my mother's engagement ring," he began quietly. "My father got it from his mother, his father from his mother, and so on for five generations. It's very special, this ring... I'm not entirely sure how, but it somehow knows if the woman it's given to is the man's true love." She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He smiled. "It's true. See, my mum gave this to me when I was sixteen, just after Naomi and I got together. When I was preparing to propose to her, I went to my sock drawer to get this—I thought she was my true love. But I couldn't find it. I tore the cottage apart looking for this ring, and it was just gone. I was devastated; I'd lost one of the only things my mother could give me. I had no choice but to empty my savings to buy Naomi a ring... Anyway, over the years, I'd kind of forgotten about it. I didn't know where it was—I tried summoning it and everything.
"A few weeks after we came back here this summer, I was down in the basement looking for something completely unrelated, and I found this. I remembered what my mother said about it being meant for my true love, and I knew immediately it was you, Emmeline." Remus got off the trunk and knelt in front of Emmeline, unsure of how long those tears had been running down her face. "I was saving this for the right time, but today made me realize that we never know when life's going to be ripped out from under us, and I need to do this in case something happens and you never know how much I want this."
He took her left hand in his right, his other hand holding the ring out to her. "Emmeline, I love you more than I ever believed I could love anybody. Every day I wake up wondering what I can do to make you happier, just to make you smile at me or laugh. There is nothing in the world I can think of that would make me happier than being with you for the rest of my life and starting a family with you. Will you marry me?"