-1Chapter 3: Moving Forward
Sirius came blasting through the front door of Grimmauld Place, his party had regained their normal outward appearances and they all looked shaken as the werewolf's friend gently placed him on the ground calling out for help. Persephone, who had been talking with Molly Weasley in the kitchen, practically flew into the front hall and leaned down over Remus. Her hands glided rapidly over the gashes in his skin, taking it all in. She breathed in slowly and spoke to the people around her.
"Harry, I'm going to need you to come upstairs with me and help to get the spare room ready for him. Sirius, could you go to the school and get Poppy, Molly can you please get me washcloths, hot water and my potion bag and bring it up to the spare bedroom?"
"Of course." Said the plump woman who quickly ran off towards the kitchen while Sirius ran out the front door. Persephone levitated the still unconscious Remus and followed Harry up the stairs, depositing him on the bed while Harry pushed an end table closer to her and she brought a chair next to the bed. Molly rushed inside and placed the bowl of warm water on the table, handing Persephone the washcloths.
The Order leader rolled up her sleeves and leaned in over the werewolf, her hands slowly caressing his bloody face she took in every cut before going to her potion bag and pulling out a small vial of shining blue liquid, she mixed it into the water and wet the cloths. Sitting on the bed, she slowly cleansed his face with the water and potion, the blood disappeared, but the gashes slowly faded away as well, being replaced with newer, healthier skin. Molly left to go find more clean cloths and Harry and Persephone were left alone.
The steam from the cloths had risen onto Persephone's face and she had a shimmer of perspiration on her brow, Harry hadn't said a word as of yet. When she re-wet the towel she finally looked up at him, "So Harry, what happened tonight?"
Harry cleared his throat and told her every detail of what had transpired, how Remus had heard the howling, how he had broken Desmond's wand and finally, how he killed Fenrir Greyback. At this, Persephone's eyebrows rose, "Really? You killed Greyback?"
"I didn't know what I was doing! Lupin was in trouble and I just reacted, I'm sorry!"
Persephone stopped wiping at the cuts, she looked confused, "Harry, what are you apologizing for?"
"All the trouble I've caused, killing someone and all." His voice was strained as if he was under an extreme amount of pressure.
Persephone shook her head, "Harry, someone you loved was in danger, you did it to save him, you're a hero. You have done nothing wrong." She nodded at him and he gave a small forced grin, she seemed satisfied for the moment and turned back to tending to Remus' gashes on his arms.
The two of them stayed in relative silence until Poppy came running in and shooed Harry out, he and Sirius waited in the hallway for word on his condition. About an hour later Persephone came out and smiled at the newly formed group, Hermione was standing next to Harry and Ron, standing on tiptoes with anticipation. Most of the Weasley clan lined the railing facing the door.
Sirius had asked Arthur to notify Tonks of what had happened and he had yet to return. She spoke to the group. "Remus will be just fine after a few days of recuperation, the beating his body suffered bruised many of his internal organs and he is in an extreme amount of pain, but he WILL BE okay. We have given him a potion to feel more comfortable and Poppy will be staying downstairs for the weekend so that she can keep an eye on him." The crowd seemed satisfied enough and the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione headed off to bed. Leaving Sirius and Persephone alone.
"How much pain is he in?" Sirius asked, his voice, barely above a whisper, was full of concern.
"Unbearable, the potions we have to use to heal him act slowly so he wont even begin healing until they hit their marks." She said solemnly.
"Did you really give him something to make him comfortable?"
"I put him to sleep but the pain is still going to be there until he heals. Where is Tonks?" she asked.
"On her way. I sent Arthur out to get her about a half hour ago. She should be here soon."
Persephone nodded, "How are you?" she said, her tone was so caring and worried that Sirius wanted to just take her in his arms but instead he nodded, "I'm fine. As long as he is ok, I'll be fine."
The front door opened and a hysterical woman came running inside, "WHERE IS HE," she screamed through sobs as she ran up the stairs towards Sirius and Persephone. "I WANT TO SEE HIM NOW!"
Tonks fell against Sirius, crying, "Oh Sirius whats happened to him, where is my Remus?" Sirius held her tightly against his broad chest as she cried, "He's going to be fine Tonks, don't worry. He'll be fine." She continued to cry as he rocked her back and forth, finally settling and taking long gulps of air. Her eyes darted around the landing as she breathed in, the tears finally ceasing.
Persephone put a hand on Tonks shoulder and calmly led her inside the room, Sirius behind them. Remus lay on the bed and even with his weak body lying there in pain, once he saw the tears in Tonks eyes he tried to sit up, "Sweetheart its alright." He managed to grunt out before falling back onto the pillows, exhausted. Tonks straightened up and sat on the bed beside him, grabbing his hand and giving him a small smile, "It is now."
Sirius asked Remus the usual questions about how he was before Persephone cleared him from the room, whispering into his ear something about "alone time" for the other two.
Back on the landing the pair stood along the railing, awkwardly grabbing at the rail and glancing at each other. Finally, Persephone reached over and grabbed Sirius's hand.
"I want to get married."
Sirius looked confused, "To who?"
She laughed, "To you silly."
Sirius pulled his hand back, and turned his body towards her, resting his arm on the rail. "'Seph you aren't making any sense," he laughed, "I mean, two hours ago you hate me and tell me how it could never work etc etc and now, you want to get married? I mean, you know I would take you out right this moment and find a priest if I thought for a second that this would make you happy but I don't think its what you want. What changed?"
She smiled, "I just think about Remus and Tonks, tonight they could have both lost everything but she still cares, she still loves him and they wont stop fighting for each other." she paused thoughtfully before continuing, "Lily and James, they didn't have a lot of time together, but at least the time they did have, it was them, all them." She paused again, her breath becoming raspy and strained, holding back tears, "And every day that passes by I think how Dumbledore and McGonagall never got that chance. I know its kind of gross to think about," she laughed, "but its more sad than funny. I don't want to end up like that, and if I die tomorrow, I want to know that I have done everything in my life possible to be happy. And you're included in that plan."
"Persephone I don't know what to say to this." He replied.
"What do you mean? You've been asking me to marry you for close to eighteen years and you have a problem as soon as I say yes?"
He walked away from the railing, pacing along the floor holding his head in his hands, "Persephone, you know I love you but I don't think this is how its supposed to go. You only want to get engaged because one of our closest friends almost dies. What is going to take to actually go through with the wedding? A muggle massacre? And dear lord, Persephone, what if we ever want to have kids? Do I need to have my arm blasted off and be in the hospital for weeks for you to even consider it?"
"It wouldn't be like that. I don't want to get engaged, I want to get married. I would marry you right now, right this minute if I could."
"Persephone I just don't think it's a smart idea."
"What's the real reason why?" She asked, softly but accusingly at him, knowing he wasn't saying something.
He dropped his head and stopped his pacing, returning to the rail and leaning over, looking down on the entrance to the house. He breathed in deep, "Persephone I-"
They were interrupted when Madam Pomfrey came out of the bedroom, "I believe if you wanted to say goodnight you should hurry. They will both be asleep soon."
They smiled and Sirius motioned for Persephone to go in first, she stopped in the doorway and smiled back at him. Tonks and Remus were laying together on the bed, hand in hand, Tonks was fast asleep curled into him. Remus looked up at Persephone and signaled for her to be quiet, then rested his head on top of Tonks. Persephone closed the door softly.
"I can't lose you again." Sirius said as he leaned into her, pressing them both against the shut door, his lips hovering on the back of her neck. "You haven't lost me though." She said.
Persephone seemed confused so he went on, making sure not to look at her, " Somehow every time we start a relationship we end up being apart, jail, you spying with Voldemort, you being a Professor, me having to die. I don't think I can handle having you so close and then losing you again. I can never escape you, you're everywhere around me." Sirius paused, " Its too painful. If we are gonna do this that's wonderful, but you just have to know that if it falls apart, I will as well." She leaned back into his shoulder and turned her head, kissing him gently on the lips.
"I wont let you fall apart."
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Ginny checked the time on the clock in her bedroom, 12:07 A.M., she smiled to herself and pulled the covers back from her. Making sure to be as quiet as possible so she wouldn't wake Hermione, Ginny crept from the room and shut the door silently before stealthily moving along the corridor to Harry's room.
Ginny sent a silencing spell at Ron's bed so that he wouldn't hear her before sitting on the edge of Harry's. Leaning over him slightly, she stroked his arm until his eyes fluttered open, he smiled when he saw her and sat up in the bed. They kissed, Harry bracing himself on the mattress behind her and she, weaving her hands in and out of his hair. She pulled away, smiling, "I heard about what you did tonight, it was so brave. Persephone said that you would probably be really upset about killing that man, are you?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders and leaned in to kiss her again, she pushed back on his chest, "Harry!"
He rolled his eyes, "What?"
"Well that was the only answer you have? A shrug and a bad attempt to start kissing me again?" He only shrugged again, she scoffed, "Harry, you killed someone tonight. You have to be feeling something. Guilt maybe? I mean, I don't want you to be guilty, you did what you had to do to protect Remus but you cant just be that apathetic." She paused, "Can you?"
Harry turned, flipping his legs over the side of the bed, he sighed, "Yea of course I feel something Ginny."
She leaned into his shoulder, "It's alright, like I said, you did what you had to do-"
Harry interrupted, "No, it isn't that. It felt…. good."
Ginny was confused, "How do you mean good?"
"You know, like after I killed him and saw his body laying there I felt really full of pride. It was the most amazing feeling I have ever had." He looked at her and smiled wide. "It was strange, I understand the reason why people kill, it makes you feel so powerful, like nothing can touch you, no one is above you." His voice was so cold it made Ginny shiver, his voice only perked when he spoke of actually killing the man.
She was frozen, shocked by what he had just said, and she barely moved when he leaned into her again and began to kiss her neck. Allowing Harry to push her back on the bed, Ginny simply mulled over those words. By the time she went back to her own room, Ginny was scared, not only for Harry, but for herself as well. Was he really that heartless? She didn't know, but she did know that she couldn't tell anyone else what he had said. She needed to protect him. "I think I would have preferred apathetic." she thought to herself before falling into an uncomfortable sleep.
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McGonagall showed up for breakfast the next morning in a foul mood, slamming a copy of The Daily Prophet on the table she called out for Persephone. She came running downstairs from the landing where she and Sirius had spent the night asleep on the chairs, waiting to help in case something happened to Remus.
"What is it?" She asked, perplexed. McGonagall motioned to the paper on the table, "Read it!"
Persephone rubbed the sleep from her eyes and grabbed the paper. The front page had a large picture of a sneering Fenrir Greyback with the headline that read, "GREYBACK IS DEAD!" Persephone quickly read through the article, searching for any reason that McGonagall could be upset.
"Fenrir Greyback, legendary werewolf leader was found dead last night in a White Chapel pub. The muggles on the scene were 67 year old Mark Green and young couple Jeff Allen and Maria Clark, 24 and 23, respectively. Mr. Green said that a blonde male, a dark skinned male, and an attractive Asian woman entered his business about 5 minutes before the altercation started. "The woman seemed real nervous like, she went to the door and was pestering the other ones to leave. But outta nowhere this man wit' wild hair came blasting through the door and attacked the young lady. Well, I jumped into action to run and help her but, musta been, 10 people came streaming in so I went to call the police."
Mr. Allen, the other witness, says that there was actually a fight where three Death Eaters began to attack the other people in the pub. "The lady went down and was trying to fight the guy off and her friends tried to help her but these other guys just appeared and started to go after them. I think one of them was Irish, he ran off screaming and holding his face before you guys showed up, the other followed him."
Only Greyback was found at the scene, leaving the Prophet to assume that he…" Persephone looked up, "Minerva, what's the problem exactly? They don't seem to know who all was there so what constitutes this as an emergency?" She stood and moved from the table, running her hand through her hair and making a beeline for the coffee. McGonagall was infuriated with Persephone's apathy, "How can you be so calm about this? Dumbledore would never-"
"Good thing he isn't running things anymore now is it?" Persephone said before taking a small sip of her steaming hot drink. McGonagall threw her arms up in frustration. Persephone smiled, "What is it that's really bothering you Minerva? This cant be it, this means nothing. What's wrong?"
"Well this is not how I would be running things is all."
"Well the Order isn't yours to run, Albus gave you the school, do what you will with that." She turned, taking her wand out of her pocket and various kitchen utensils were sent whizzing around, cooking everyone's breakfast.
McGonagall sighed, "That's precisely the problem. I am having trouble running my school."
Persephone turned and leaned against the counter, "Why are you coming to me then?"
"I need teachers. The school year starts in mere days and no one will take the open jobs because Dumbledore isn't there anymore. I have been going crazy trying to find people."
"Well what positions do you need filled?"
"Defense, Potions, and Transfiguration."
Persephone took a long drink from her cup, pondering quietly, "Well, Remus can teach Transfiguration, Sirius can teach Defense and I will teach Potions. Simple as that."
"Are any of you qualified to teach those subjects?"
"Well Sirius was in prison for 13 years so who knows about the dark arts more than him? Remus, changes into something every month, transfigures if you will and as for myself my father was a potions master. I'm sure if I took the tests I could qualify." she paused, "So what do you say? Solution?" McGonagall nodded.
Persephone smiled and poured herself another cup of coffee, "Besides," she said, "It will good to be around Harry again. This time just for me, its not like he needs anything."
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Harry woke alone, Ron had gone to take a shower so Harry lay in bed. Twirling his wand in his fingers, staring up at the ceiling. A small fly floated into his vision and Harry smiled, he stopped spinning his wand and aimed, "Avada Kedavra." He whispered. His smiled turning into a large grin as the jet of green light encased the fly, allowing it to fall, dead, from the air.
He got up and dressed himself before heading downstairs to breakfast.
TO BE CONTINUED……
I know! This was a long chapter! To anyone who got through it the next one will be more exciting! I promise.
Next Chapter: The group finally makes their way back to Hogwarts and we see what Voldemort is stirring up.