Chapter 68
"He got off!"
"Shut up!"
The commotion from the kitchen nearly had Meredith backing out the door again, but the smell of Molly's roast chicken reminded her that she had no food at her flat. She had been on her feet for fifteen straight hours trying to reattach a man's limbs and she was starving. She pushed through the kitchen door where Sirius, Harry, Hermione, the younger Weasleys and Molly were assembled. Fred, George and Ginny were still dancing around chanting and their mother looked ready to kill them. Meredith placed two fingers into her mouth and let out a loud piercing whistle that made all chatter cease and all heads turn toward her.
"Evening all," she said with a smirk. She would have to thank Enuk for teaching her that trick.
"Oh Meredith, dear," Molly said. "We didn't see you there, some of us were too busy acting like zoo animals." Meredith chuckled. Harry came forward and she immediately folded him into a hug. She had not seen him since they'd parted company last summer, she thought guiltily. She should have dropped by just to say hello before now.
"Goodness, Harry!" she exclaimed. He was nearly the same height as her. "You must have grown four inches."
"Since breakfast," Sirius chuckled. Harry grinned.
"I like your hair," he said. She smiled. No doubt Harry had heard about what had happened. Hopefully, someone had filled him in on the real story and not that malarkey the Prophet had printed about her dad falling asleep and leaving a candle burning.
"Everyone to the table now," Molly said. "Lunch is ready." Meredith kept an arm around Harry's shoulder as they went to the table.
"I'm sorry I haven't been by till now," Meredith said to Harry as Ron piled mashed potatoes on hers and everyone's plate.
"It's okay," Harry said. "I know your busy right now and…uh…Hermione mentioned you don't really like Grimmauld. I'm really sorry about your house and…" he gestured to his own neck. Meredith ran a hand lightly over the spot where the curse had hit her. It no longer hurt but she would have a scar.
"I should have written more," Meredith said. "I wouldn't blame you for being angry with me."
"I am angry," Harry said. "But not at you. I know you were just following Dumbledore's orders."
"I don't agree with all this secrecy," she said. "But I have to trust Dumbledore has his reasons for it. All he's doing, all he's done, it's to keep you alive Harry."
"He wouldn't even look at me at the trial." Meredith had no comment about that. Why Dumbledore thought that protecting Harry should entail keeping his distance she did not know.
"So you're still at St. Mungoes then?" Harry asked. Meredith nodded and took a bite of her lunch.
"Dumbledore has me on the lookout for mysterious injuries. So far nothing out of the ordinary has come in as far as I can tell. Dumbledore has me send reports on everything. Waste of time if you ask me, but who knows what Dumbledore may find suspicious that seems ordinary to me. I'm surrounded by the ill and injured everyday so what's common to me might be something huge to Dumbledore. Sometimes I think Dad put Dumbledore up to it to keep me busy."
"Why would your dad do that?" Meredith sighed.
"Dad doesn't like that I'm in the Order," she said. "He's afraid something will happen to me."
"But you are in the Order?" Harry said.
"Yes," she said. "I joined up the second Dumbledore started recruiting. I'm not gonna sit back and do nothing while Voldemort kills innocent people." Harry grinned at her.
"That's how I feel. I want to fight!" Meredith smiled and gave his hand a squeeze.
"I know," she said. Oh she knew. This wasn't going to end without a fight, and she knew that soon…sooner than any of them wanted… Harry would be fighting in this war.
Meredith hung around after lunch and found herself drafted into helping to make Grimmauld place into something ordinary witches and wizards could live in. She chatted with Hermione and Ginny as they scrubbed down the walls of a large parlor. Every now and then Fred and George apparated in to move the furniture or clear out another Black family heirloom. It did not escape her attention that a few odd potions and powders went into the twins' pockets. No doubt they were collecting things to try in order to get their joke shop up and running. Kreacher was spotted several times squirreling away more heirlooms that were bound for the rubbish pile. Meredith just rolled her eyes as the twins popped in and out.
"So how come you never learned to apparate, Meredith," Fred asked one time after popping in.
"I learned," she said. "I just never took the test and got the license. I didn't like doing it."
"Why not?" George said popping in.
"Just didn't care for it," she said. She ignored the indignant looks of the twins and took her bucket of soapy water into another room. In this room she found Sirius, Ron and Harry clearing out a large bureau. A large pile of items was in the middle of the floor. She cringed as Sirius tossed an antique clock, a snuff box, several goblets, a rusty dagger, an old locket, a hand held mirror, and a pair of candlesticks onto the pile as though they were nothing more than rubbish. As he tossed each item he seemed to get more angry throwing harder and harder until she went to him and put a hand on his shoulder. This caused him to pause and take a deep breath. He looked at her and she could see the pure misery in his face.
'Oh Sirius,' she thought. 'What kind of life did you know in this house?' Sirius spoke so little of his childhood. Whenever she had asked him anything about it he had always been uneasy and quickly changed the subject. He had been much more eager to talk about her mother and Harry's dad and the mischief that the Marauders had gotten up to at Hogwarts. She sensed that these times were truly the only happiness Sirius had known in his life. She glanced over where Sirius was now looking at Harry who was adding more antiques to the pile. It hadn't escaped her notice that Sirius had not seemed as joyous at the charges against Harry being dropped as everyone else had. Had Sirius been hoping Harry would be expelled from Hogwarts? No, he could not be that selfish. But maybe, just maybe the thought that Harry wouldn't return to Hogwarts and would be able to stay here with his godfather had appealed to Sirius just a little. Meredith knew that being forced to stay in hiding here in a place he loathed was terribly hard on him. With the order only in and out and her dad currently back living with the werewolves and she herself refusing to move in she could only imagine how lonely he must be. Now with the kids going back to school soon and Molly and Arthur getting ready to vacate back to the Burrow it would be only him here with Kreacher a great deal of the time. She felt a little stab of guilt and promised that even if she couldn't live here she would make it a point to be here more in the coming future. Even if it meant putting up with her grandmother's screeching and Kreacher's skulking about. She rolled her eyes as she saw the little imp creeping around the pile and grabbing the locket Sirius had tossed there and tucking it under his loin cloth. She decided not to say anything. Who cared if the little rodent had a nest of worthless antiques piled in his little hovel somewhere in the house? It wasn't hurting anyone.
"What the…? Aigh!" Meredith turned and was quickly moving towards Ron. Ron was holding a silver box that had released what she suspected was Wartcap powder. Ron's arm was very quickly turning hard and leathery. She snatched the box away and tossed it to the pile. She pulled out her wand and tapped Ron's arm turning it back to normal.
"Thanks," Ron said. Meredith was called on for her medical expertise several more times as a Spider Screw punctured Harry's arm, a doxy bit Fred's shoulder, and a mysterious music box put all the men in the house to sleep. Finally Molly announced it was dinner time and cleaning ceased for the day. Meredith decided to stay for dinner, in hopes that her dad might drop by. Her hopes were in vain but they were joined by Tonks, Mad Eye and Kingsley. She was happy to see Dora even if her friend's clumsiness sent her Grandmother into another screaming fit. There wasn't much to report from the Ministry and other than Mundungus Fletcher showing up with a stock load of stolen cauldrons which sent Molly into an absolute conniption, the evening was fairly uneventful.
Several days later Meredith was taking a break from her duties and had stopped at the little pub across the street from St. Mungo's. She often came here when things weren't so very busy at the hospital for lunch. It was so much nicer than the little tearoom on the fifth floor which wasn't much more than a snack parlor. She waved at a few familiar faces as she made her way to the counter to place her order. This little spot was popular amongst the other healers. Its convenient location gave them all a place to get a decent meal without being too far out of the range of their summoning bracelets. If a patient needed them they could be reached here and be back at hospital fairly quickly. Meredith's own bracelet was most likely going to stay dim for a while, her only patient at the moment had only been awake for a few minutes in the entire three days he'd been in her care. Once she had placed her order she found a seat at a booth in the back. Someone had left a copy of the Daily Prophet on the table and despite her better judgement she picked it up and perused the headlines. More mud-slinging toward Harry and Dumbledore. She shook her head. Fudge was such a fool. One article caught her eye as her soup and sandwich were brought to her along with a large gilly water. She took a sip of water as she read:
CHANGES COME TO HOGWARTS
It is a well known fact that Albus Dumbledore has had difficulty keeping a teacher in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts for more than one year. There are those who even have gone so far to say the job has had a curse placed on it, though the more cynical say it is the very nature of the job that keeps the position vacant at the start of each new school term. Dumbledore's efforts to fill the post in the past years have wielded some interesting choices in that of a werewolf, a Metamorphmagus, and a mermaid. Also amongst those who have taken on the post are some more well known names such as Elizabeth Villevue, Gilderory Lockhardt and the mysterious Mad Eye Moody. Yet, no matter who or what they are they never last more than one year.
With the post once again vacant after the strange events at the Triwizard Tournament which took place at Hogwarts last year, the Ministry has finally decided that enough is enough.
"With the events over the last several months the ministry feels it has no choice but to intercede. After so many questionable choices Albus Dumbledore has made since taking on the post of Headmaster, we can no longer turn a blind eye to what happens behind the walls of Hogwarts. We must do everything in our power to protect our children from Albus Dumbledore's questionable teachings. This will include a very close examination of all teachers as well as the appointment of a Ministry Official to the, once again, vacant position of Defense Against the Arts teacher," Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge responded when asked about the Ministry's future plans for Hogwarts.
Meredith threw the article down in frustration and took a bite of her sandwich. First the Prophet, now Fudge was interfering at Hogwarts? Dumbledore had been afraid this might happen when he'd mentioned that he was having more difficulty than usual finding someone to fill the post. He'd had several good candidates a month ago who, no doubt thanks to the Ministry had turned him down. She glared at the article. Who knew who Fudge would put in the spot? One of his puppets no doubt who would undermine Dumbledore at every turn. She glared harder at the photo of Fudge addressing the reporters.
"Not the most flattering picture," a voice beside her said. "But I thought the article was well written." Meredith nearly choked on her gilly water as she glanced up and saw Percy standing beside her.
"Percy," she greeted him attempting to keep the frost out of her voice. What was he doing here? She highly doubted her former friend ever took lunch breaks and if he did he wouldn't come here. He wouldn't stray so far from the Ministry.
"I was, uh, just in the neighborhood really. I uh saw you through the window and I thought I'd say hello. It's been so long since we've talked."
'Since you disowned your own family,' she thought bitterly but kept the thought to herself.
"Well, I imagine being the Minister of Magic's stooge…I mean assistant keeps you very busy," she said. The tips of Percy's ears turned red at her comment but he continued.
"Oh yes," he said. "So much going on right now with the Ministry taking a more active role in our young folk's education."
"Yes, so I've been reading," she said gesturing to the paper.
"Oh yes, it's taking up most of the Minister's time these days. Well now that that nasty business with Potter is finally cleared up."
"You mean Harry's being attacked by Dementors?"
"Allegedly, being attacked by Dementors and violating the statute for underage magic by casting an illegal patronus. Honestly, I don't know what Amelia was thinking letting him off."
"As I understand it Madam Bones wasn't the only one who voted to clear him of all charges." Percy, as he so often did looked as though he had just sucked on a lemon.
"Know about that do you?" She shrugged, non-committedly.
"So I guess, um, you keep in touch with Potter still?"
"Yep," she said. Percy was fishing, she could just tell. Well he could jump in the lake for all she cared. This man who sat across from her was not the boy who she had called her friend.
"Well, I never did quite understand your attachment to the boy."
'The boy who you were so thrilled to say was a friend of the family when you were first trying to make waves in the ministry.'
"But you've always had strange loyalties."
'At least I have loyalty.'
"Though, I must say Meredith. This friendship with Potter is only going to cause you grief in the future. The things that people are saying about him…"
'That the Minister is saying and forcing the Prophet to print you mean'
"I mean they say he's unbalanced. Violent even. I would hate to think of you getting hurt because of your misplaced loyalty in Potter."
"Your concern is touching," Meredith said trying and failing to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.
"Look Meredith," Percy said leaning close. "These are dangerous times. You could be in a great deal of trouble if you are found associating with the wrong people." Meredith rolled her eyes.
"Thanks for the warning," Meredith said. "Now would you like to tell me why you really sought me out? This small talk is getting rather tiresome." Percy frowned.
"You were always too smart for your own good Meredith," he said.
"If by that you mean I have a finely honed sense of when I'm being fed a load of codswallop, then I'm flattered you think so."
"Fine," Percy said. "I will speak plainly. The minister doesn't want Dumbledore gaining more power. Dumbledore is a threat to him."
"To his position you mean."
"Meredith, you are in Dumbledore's circle. The Minister needs information. He needs to know what Dumbledore is up to."
"Sorry can't help you," Meredith said.
"Meredith, please!" All pretense of the calm collected manner disappeared from Percy's face and it was suddenly full of desperation.
"Dumbledore is a menace! These crazy rumors he's spreading about You Know Who being back are just the start. Can't you see it? It's all a plot to get people to rally to him so he can gain power over the ministry. Everyone knows that Dumbledore is the only one You Know Who was afraid of. So who else is the public going to turn to if they think he's back." Meredith shook her head
'Who ARE you?' she thought sadly.
"Percy," she said sadly. "Do you hear yourself? When has Dumbledore EVER sought power for himself? Has he ever shown that he wants to take over? How many times has he been sought out for the Minister's job and turned it down."
"Meredith you are blinded by your loyalty," Percy said. "I can't even say I blame you for it. Considering who your Dad is." Meredith gripped the table and tried to keep her breathing steady.
"My Dad?"
"Of course," Percy said. "Your dad's loyalty is to Dumbledore because he let him come to school when others wouldn't have. It's understandable that that loyalty has rubbed off on you. But Meredith if you would only see reason you would realize that there is no future in supporting them when the Ministry is the one who makes the decisions."
"I'm not worried about my future Percy," Meredith stated coldly. "Neither are you. Don't tell me you're worried that the Minister might try to harm me."
"Meredith, you're in Dumbledore's inner circle. You can tell the Minister what he's up to. The Minister knows about you Meredith. He knows how smart, how talented you are. If you help him…"
"You think I would turn against Dumbledore? Against my father just for a chance to get ahead in the world. No, Percy, I'm not like you." Percy blanched and it suddenly became very clear to her what this whole thing was about.
"Oh I see," she said. "Your little plan to make yourself look good for your new boss has backfired on you. You thought by disowning your parents your boss would be impressed that your loyalty is so strong to him that you're willing to put him above everything including your own family. But he wasn't so impressed was he, when he found out that his perfect chance to get one of his people on the inside, privy to all Dumbledore's plans was lost because you washed your hands of your family. And now you're stuck. Your boss is furious so you've got to show him that you can still give him something because heaven forbid you should go to your father and admit he was right that Fudge was just using you. No, no that wouldn't do at all would it?" Percy's hands were clenched and his face red and Meredith just knew she had nailed it on the head.
"You've never understood. My father has no ambition. He could have been promoted years ago to a position of importance. He stayed where he was because of that stupid obsession with Muggles. Because of that we've always had to just scrape by. You have no idea how humiliating it is to come to school every year in second hand robes, with torn up books and hand me down EVERYTHING. To be thought of as a joke because unlike your parents you actually want to be something in life. They've always held me back. Just having the Weasley name has made any wizard worth his salt unwilling to associate with me. I've worked twice as hard as anyone to get where I am and all my parents want to do is drag me down with them because of their stupid loyalties."
As Meredith listened to him rant she thought of the pride in Mrs. Weasley's face when Percy had been made a Prefect and then how she'd scraped every last sickle from the family vault so he could have new robes and an owl to celebrate. She thought of the Patterson's house full of all the best things money could buy. She thought of all those winter and summer breaks Patricia had turned up dressed in designer jeans and boots of the finest dragon leather, in tears because her parents had made her feel completely worthless. She thought of Oliver, pushing himself to exhaustion trying to bring home a Quidditch cup just to gain a single word of praise from his father. She thought of her own dad, working jobs he was completely overqualified for in the muggle world, earning pennies, just so he would not have to drain her inheritance. It made her see red!
"You are a lousy, selfish, ungrateful prat Percy Weasley!" she hissed. "You have two parents who love you. So they couldn't give you a big house and designer clothes and a fancy new broom every year. You had a roof over your head, and food in your stomach. So they had to scrimp and save to give you what you needed, but you had a loving home. That's more than most people have in this life." Percy glared at her.
"I should have known you wouldn't understand. You never had to worry about money." She was so angry she nearly punched him right in the nose.
"You stupid little boy!" she said, barely managing to keep her voice low. "The only reason I had anything as a child was because my mother died when I was a child and I inherited it. And I would give back every last sickle if I meant that I could spend one day with her. But you! You have two living parents who would take you back in a second despite the fact that you broke both their hearts, because you're their son and they love you but you're too in love with being someone important to appreciate what you have. You can go to hell Percy Weasley!"
"Well," Percy said, his face now resembling a tomato. "I guess we know where we both stand."
"Yes we do," Meredith said. "I have to get back to work. You can tell your boss his offer is most emphatically declined." And with that she left her half eaten lunch on the table and strode from the pub.
"Healer Meredith Lupin signing out for the day," Meredith said with great relief. After her confrontation with Percy in the Pub the rest of her day had been thankfully hectic as David had pulled her into a complicated surgery, leaving a first year HIT to monitor her sleepy patient. She had been grateful for something to focus on after the two unfortunate encounters she'd had with Percy today and Patricia a few weeks ago. Working with David again had been a little awkward but they had found a rhythm. She'd heard a rumor that he was seeing a third year healer. She was happy he had found someone, she truly was. He deserved to be happy. The air was damp, and she could tell it had just rained. She felt a little stab of pain in her heart as she began the 3 mile trek to Grimmauld. Her flat was closer but, her Dad was supposed to be home this evening and she was not going to pass up a chance to see him after so long. As she stepped in a puddle soaking her shoes and socks she bemoaned the days when she would be sitting on a dry subway train relaxing for the 30 minutes it would take to get to her street where a cozy cottage would be waiting with a warm fire in the hearth. She sighed. Now she got to trek in the mud to a cold gloomy mansion covered in cobwebs. At least the trek wasn't that long. She arrived in front of the house and after doing a quick look around went inside. Her grandmother's portrait was blessedly silent. She shivered and hurried up the stairs to the third floor where her room was. It wasn't bad. The bed was soft and unlike most of the other beds in the house it was not covered in dust. But like the rest of the house it was dark, cold, and covered in Black family heirlooms. Sirius had been kind enough to remove the portrait of Cignet Black her, she had forgotten how many greats, grandfather. He'd said no one should have to wake up to Cignet's ugly mug. She didn't keep much here but she managed to find a dry pair of socks and an old pair of sneakers. She stared at herself in the large ornate mirror that hung from one wall. She looked tired and pale. She grabbed a hair brush and ran it through her short crop of hair. Feeling that she was at least presentable enough for the Order she left the room and made her way downstairs. She paused at the second floor landing when she saw her Dad's door open. His hair was damp, as though he's just stepped out of the shower, and he was as pale as she'd ever seen him. But his dim eyes brightened when he saw her and in seconds she was wrapped in his warm embrace.
"Missed you love," he said.
"Not as much as I've missed you." Here in her dad's arms was truly the one place she always felt safe.
"You look pale," he said brushing a strand of hair from her forehead.
"Look who's talking," she countered with a smile looping her arm through his. "Let's head down. Smells like Molly has dinner ready." She shook her head, it still felt odd to refer to Mrs. Weasley by her first name. They went down to the kitchen and found it crowded. Kingsley and Dora with Auntie Andromeda and Uncle Teddy had stopped by as had Mad Eye and Bill. Bill shot her a smile which made her blush. Molly had a delicious looking dinner ready along with a large cake that read "Congratulations Ron and Hermione!"
"Oh Meredith," Molly gushed. "Isn't it wonderful? Ron made prefect. We're having a celebration dinner."
"Hermione too," Ron said blushing the color of his hair.
"That's great news you two," Meredith said. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Hermione said. "It's quite an honor."
"I hope you don't mind dear," Molly said. "I'm afraid your birthday cake turned into a congratulations cake. We've just had so little to be joyful about around here. I can make another one for tomorrow." Meredith was taken aback. Her birthday?
"Um…"
"Crikey, Mere you didn't forget your own birthday did you?" Dora said. Meredith shrugged.
"Too many long shifts at the hospital," Sirius said joining the conversation. "Making her lose all track of time." Meredith rolled her eyes.
"Well, we'll make up for that. C'mon everyone take a seat." Meredith found herself squished between Hermione and her Dad. Across from her sat Harry who was looking a bit glum.
"So Meredith," Hermione asked. "Any advice?" Meredith shrugged.
"Just keep your head up and don't let anyone give you any grief," she said shooting a warning glance at Fred and George.
"Why Meredith!" Fred said with false appall. "When did we ever give you grief?"
"Every minute of every day for three years," Meredith said. The entire table chuckled.
"Good luck keeping these two in line, Ron," Bill said punching his younger brother lightly in the shoulder. Ron looked like he was going to vomit.
"How are Ron and I going to keep those two from causing too much trouble?" Hermione asked quietly. Meredith chuckled.
"When you figure it out please tell me how you did it." Hermione looked worried.
"I was never a prefect myself," Dora said. "My head of house said I lacked the necessary qualities."
"Like what?" Ron asked
"The ability to behave herself," Meredith, Bill, Andromeda and Ted said simultaneously. Dora smiled in spite of herself.
"What about you Sirius?" Harry said.
"Me a Prefect?" Sirius scoffed. "Nah, too many hours is detention with James. Remus was the good boy. He got the badge."
"Dumbledore no doubt hoped I might exercise some authority over my mischievous friends. Needless to say I failed miserably." Meredith couldn't help noticing that Harry seemed to cheer up after finding out Sirius was never a prefect. Or was he pleased that his father had not been a prefect? It made sense. Harry was so often being compared to James, especially by Sirius. Personally Meredith was not surprised Dumbledore had not given the badge to Harry. He was going to have enough to deal with this year with O. and whatever the minister was up to on top of the ever growing threat of Voldemort. She couldn't help remembering her own fifth year. Lords, she'd been exhausted half the time, almost as exhausted as she felt most of the time now. But at least back then….she frowned a little as Molly brought out the cake. She was taken back to another gathering with a cake that had two names on it. Remembering now, she realized this was when Percy had started drifting away from her. She remembered the proud way he puffed out his chest showing off his prefect badge, the haughty way he told off first years who were making trouble, the way he'd all but drooled over the Head Boy badge. She pushed away from the table, no longer hungry. She made her way back upstairs to her room. Most of her personal items had been destroyed in the fire. But she'd managed to save this one thing that had meant more to her than anything else in that room. She kept it here for safe keeping. She dug out her photo album from the bottom drawer of the dresser and flipped through the pages. Most of the photos waved at her but she had a few that had not been given the special treatment that made them move. These were the ones she sought out now. Percy had thought her odd to want to keep the pictures still, thinking it was incredibly dull but at the time it had been important to her. She gazed at the moving photos of her Hogwarts days. Some showed her and Oliver but most only showed her. It had not always been so. One in particular taken on Platform 9 ¾ she distinctively remembered Patricia had been standing next to her. Another taken at the leaky cauldron all four of them had been at the table now only she and Oliver sat there. She felt tears sting her eyes as her gaze landed on one particular photo. This one had not been treated and the faces of Oliver, Patricia, Percy and herself smiled up at her. A frozen moment in time when the four of them had been inseparable.
"You all right love," her Dad's voice broke into her thoughts. She jumped up slamming the album shut and hastily wiping her eyes.
"I'm fine," she said setting the album on a table. Her dad gave her a look that said he wasn't buying it. She was all too familiar with that look. Her dad picked up the album and turned to the page she had been looking at.
"I remember that day," he said. Meredith turned away to stare out the window. She didn't need to ask what day he was talking about. There was nothing special about that day. It had been summer break between their fourth and fifth year. They had wound up at her house, again, and they had been out in the yard. They had just been lazing about when her Dad had come outside with a camera and told them all to look at him and smile.
"I was looking out at you four. You were all so young and happy. If I could have I would have frozen time and just kept you like forever." Meredith smiled sadly. How many times had she wished to go back to the days when life was simple? She leaned back into him as his arm came around her shoulder.
"You've had a rough few weeks haven't you love," he said, pulling her close. She sighed leaning against his shoulder. She wished she could just stay where she was for the next ten years. The peace she felt having her dad holding her like this was shattered several minutes later when a loud scream of horror was heard down the hall. Her dad was out the door, wand out, with Meredith following closely behind. Sirius came charging up the stairs as they hurried into the hall.
"Where? Who?" Sirius said.
"Nooo!" It was Molly. They burst into the room where the screaming was coming from. Molly had her wand out but was making no move to use it as she screamed and sobbed. There on the floor lay Harry, dead. Meredith's heart jumped into her throat till she saw a very much alive Harry standing against the wall. Instantly she knew what was going on. Her Dad stepped in front of Molly blocking the Boggart from her view. Instantly Harry's dead body took on the shape of a glowing orb. The full moon, her dad's greatest fear.
"Riddikulous," he snapped with a wave of his wand causing the Boggart to disappear with a pop.
"Oh!" Molly wailed and Meredith immediately went to her pulling her into a hug. She patted the older woman's back as she sobbed into her shoulder.
"Hush now, Molly," Meredith said in her Healer voice. "It's gone now."
"I…see them…all of them…dead. In my dreams." Meredith's heart wrenched. No doubt Harry's body had been just one of many that Molly had seen. She glanced over at Sirius who was looking at the place on the carpet where the image of Harry's dead body had been only moments ago.
"Don't tell Arthur," Molly said. "I'm being so silly. I knew it was a boggart. Oh Harry what you must think of me."
"Don't," Harry said.
"I'm just so worried," Molly said accepting a handkerchief her Dad gave her. "With half the family in the order and Percy not speaking to us." Meredith's jaw clenched at Percy's name
"I just know not all of us are going to survive. What if something were to happen and we never made up? What if Arthur and I are killed? Who would look after Ron and Ginny?"
"Molly enough," Her dad said his voice firm. "I know you're worried but this isn't like the last time. We're better prepared, we know what Voldemort's up to. Oh come now you might as well use the name. I know you're scared and rightly so but this time we're not outnumbered twenty to one."
"Percy will come around," Sirius said. "Once Voldemort's out in the open the ministry will be scrambling to beg our forgiveness. And I'll not be in a hurry to grant it." Meredith winced. The bitterness in Sirius's tone bothered her.
"And as for Ron and Ginny," her dad said. "Do you think we'd let them starve?" Molly wiped her eyes.
"I'm being silly," she said.
"No," Meredith said. "You're being a mother." Molly laughed a little.
"Come now," her dad said. "I think what you need is a strong cup and tea and a rest. You've been taking care of all of us since we moved in here, its run you ragged." Molly nodded and allowed Dad and Sirius to guide her from the room. Meredith started to follow them then noticed Harry had not moved from his place on the wall.
"Harry?" she called to him.
"Yeah, um, I'm coming," he said. Meredith went to him and gripped his shoulder.
"You okay kid?" she asked. Harry frowned.
"Talk about silly," he said. "A few minutes ago I was bitter about Ron getting the prefect badge. We could all be dead tomorrow."
"Oh Harry," she said wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "Don't think like that."
"I can't help it." Meredith had no words of advice to give him.
"Come on kid," she said. "I think Molly's not the only one in need of a strong cup of tea." Harry shrugged and let her lead him back to the kitchen.