Chapter 46 is here. I hope you will enjoy it. If it were you, who would you pick to bring back; Remus or Ron.

A Choice To Make

Harry was absolutely terrified. The ice melted and fire roared once more. Grindelwald was now by Morningstar's side helping her fight Moriarty. The fire expanded and then suddenly subsided. Harry saw Hermione's furious face as she walked into it.

Fire danced as Hermione and the intruders fought back and forth.

Harry knew he didn't have much time. Maybe he had to get away and forget what Morningstar had offered, but he couldn't go.

"I choose…" said Harry.

He paused. Did he really want to leave Remus behind by choosing Ron. He looked at Mrs. Weasley who was absolutely devastated by her son's death. It was the right choice. Harry looked at Eve Morningstar. She wasn't paying him any attention. She was busy toying with Hermione and Moriarty. Her joyful smile made him angry.

In the background Tonks' got Harry's attention. She was looking around for Remus. She seemed very distressed. Her hand touched her belly for a second and Harry knew what his choice had to be.

"...Remus." yelled Harry.

"At last!" Morningstar cried triumphantly.

The fire disappeared, a gust of wind exploded and almost everyone fell on the ground.

Then a body appeared in the air. Hermione and Moriarty gasped loudly as others looked in awe.

It was Remus Lupin and he was naked, hovering weightless above the ground. Tonks ran toward him. Hermione tried to attack Morningstar, but she was stopped by Moriarty.

Harry was so occupied by Remus that he didn't see the intruders vanish into vapour.

Hermione rushed to Harry and hugged him. Ginny was the next to follow.

"Are you alright, Harry?" asked Hermione frantically. Ginny simply kissed Him. Harry felt guilt eat him away as the kiss deepened.

"Ew!" they heard Aunt Muriel say. Harry realised that it might have been odd to see two Weasley's kiss each other like that.

"Are you alright, Harry?." said Moriarty loudly. Molly came forward and hugged Harry.

Her sobbing voice broke Harry's heart.

As everyone was looking at them, a man entered the pocket dimensions. He wouldn't have been recognised without his iconic half-moon glasses.

"Dumbledore!?" exclaimed Muriel and Doge in horror.

He was battered and bruised. Blood was gushing from his chest. Dumbledore fell on the ground heavily.

"Albus!" cried Severus Snape and Lily Peter. They rushed to his side and tried to help Dumbledore.

Harry approached Dumbledore cautiously.

"Professor?" he whispered.

"Harry… to be frank… I had no idea… Orion Black… was so fast." said Dumbledore weakly.

Dumbledore closed his eyes and for a horrifying moment Harry thought he was dead, but he kept breathing.

"Did You-know-who do this to him?" asked Muriel. She clearly had not heard Dumbledore utter Orion Black's name.

No one answered her; many did not know the answer and those who did, decided to say nothing.

Moriarty went to check on Remus and as Argus Filch joined Lily and Severus to help Dumbledore.

"He'll live," said Filch and gulped.

"The same here," said Moriarty.

Harry noticed that just like Morningstar and Filch were unharmed.

Others on the other hand were a mess. Everyone was somehow injured and burned but James Moriarty, Lily and Remus Lupin. Harry himself was unharmed as well.

"Adriana, come help me with Mr. Lupin." said Moriarty.

Harry wanted to warn Moriarty that Lily now had her real face, but he could not do it without attracting attention. Moriarty conjured two beds and put Remus on one of them.

"A team of Mediwitches and Mediwizards are on their way," said Moriarty loudly, "Please stay where you are and don't move if you are injured." He saw a man walk away, "Those who want to leave now, can do so. However, if they happen to die from an unknown cause it would be on them!"

The man froze. Moriarty pointed at him and said, "Oh, come on, don't let death discourage you. After all, everyone dies one day."

Harry could not tell if Moriarty was joking or not. His dark sense of humor was something they all were used to.

This wedding was no longer a happy occasion, of course. Ron was gone forever, and there was no trace of him left behind, so they had no closure. They couldn't properly bury him.

Hermione was not just concerned with Ron's death. She was dealing with something much worse.

"Yes, they did." said her third favorite professor to her unasked question.

"What?" she asked.

"Weren't you wondering, if the families' of Death Eaters who perished on New Year's, felt the way you do now?"

Moriarty was right, but she didn't want to admit it.

"You can't read my mind!" she said at last.

"No, I can't, but I can relate to your situation." said Moriarty, "I have lived for a very long time, Hermione. You have no idea how many wives I've buried. I have killed people as well. While all were unsavoury people, I can't stop comparing the pain of their dear ones to mine."

"I didn't want to do it." she whispered. "I was forced to kill them."

"Neither did I. That is, after the first murder. The first one was very intentional and premeditated." he said mysteriously. Hermione shivered and walked away. She didn't dare ask who Moriarty's first victim was.

Harry didn't say a word until they returned from the pocket dimension. Then he took her and Ginny to their room and told them he had chosen Remus over Ron. The girls didn't know how to react.

"Why?" asked Ginny with her brittle voice.

"Remus has a child with Tonks. I saw her looking for him. She looked so desperate. I wanted to bring Ron back, but I didn't want Tonks' child to be fatherless."

"Ron would've agreed." said Ginny to Hermione's surprise. She had not expected her to be reasonable.

"Don't tell my mum that you had a choice," she continued with a determined expression, "Or else."

Harry gulped. Evoking Ginny's wrath was dangerous and unwise. Harry promised her, he wouldn't tell a soul.

The next morning Kreacher woke them up and asked them to go downstairs for breakfast. Unlike most days, number 12 Grimmauld Place was rather empty and quiet.

The kitchen, of course, was not empty, Dumbledore was sitting on a chair between Moriarty and Snape. He seemed to be much better than the day before. He was devouring a marmalade sandwich. He still had some bruises on his face.

Sirius and Lucinda were sitting next to Severus Snape. It was weird to see Sirius and Snape be civilised toward one another despite the lack of safe distance. And alone on the other side sat Adriana Dumbledore with a gloomy face.

When they sat in front of the very quiet adults, the kitchen door was opened once more. Remus and Tonks entered and sat next to Harry.

Apparently Remus had a hard time recovering from the initial shock. He refused to look at any of them.

"Ah, the corpse is here!" said a voice behind them.

"Not funny, Argus," commented Moriarty. He, like others, did not wish to talk much.

"What is it that you're eating?" said Filch, "Is that cheese?"

"I suppose," said Sirius with uncertainty. And suddenly Harry realised what Dumbledore was eating had to be anything but marmalade.

"Lord Almighty! You shouldn't have that after such an awfully depressing night. A proper English breakfast must be served!"

Filch began cooking. His taunts and jokes gradually broke the ice. Harry realised that Filch was manipulating them in a very Slytherin way. However, it was for a good purpose.

For the first time in his life, Harry wondered if he had chosen the wrong House. Perhaps he would have been less helpless as a Slytherin.

"Harry, we will be taking you guys to Diagon Alley tomorrow." said Moriarty tiredly.

"Malfoy too. He needs supplies as well." said Filch.

At that moment Draco and Narcissa Malfoy entered the kitchen.

The Order's guests usually ate in their room and didn't wish to be bothered. It made Hermione and Harry wonder what they wanted this morning.

Narcissa congratulated Lucinda on her choice of husband and apologised for not attending the wedding they had not been invited to in the first place.

In an odd and unfamiliar costume to Harry and Hermione, Narcissa kissed Sirius and Lucinda's foreheads.

"It's a tradition," said Sirius to Harry.

"They used to kiss lips just a century ago." said Filch airily, and put a sunny-side and some sausages in front of Harry.

Sirius and Lucinda shivered at the thought.

"They did a lot of things we don't do today. The groom no longer offers the bride to his older brother." said Moriarty to their horror.

"They still do it in Japan, don't they?" said Filch.

"I don't believe it's a common tradition anymore,"

Dumbledore groaned unhappily, but it didn't lessen his appetite for smoked sausage.

Draco and Narcissa didn't stay long.

"I'm sorry, we have to go back to Lucius and Rodolphus." said Narcissa politely as she dragged her son out.

After they were out a deafening silence filled the room. Harry couldn't take it anymore.

"Aren't we going to talk about yesterday?" he said unexpectedly.

Dumbledore froze. Remus stiffened and Moriarty coughed.

"We are." said Filch, "The problem is that we are all in shock. We were hit hard."

"We're terrified to be accurate," said Moriarty, "Because no one anticipated what happened last night. I have no idea how she got to us. There may be a spy involved. Also I have zero ideas on what her most recent plot is."

"Her endgame is unclear." Filch agreed. "But hasn't that always been the case with that slippery serpent?"

"Sorry to interrupt you, but who was that lady last night?" asked Tonks perplexedly.

Dumbledore and Moriarty groaned. Dumbledore offered a short version of the whole story. They promised to tell others as soon as they could.

Harry was surprised how much Moriarty had told the headmaster. He had never mentioned to Harry that Dumbledore knew so much. Filch was obviously unhappy that so many people had found out about a solution to death which happened to be in the hands of their enemy. Remus was unexpectedly against the idea of immortality for all.

"It's a very bad idea. She has to be stopped." he said firmly.

Filch looked at Remus doubtfully.

"I do not understand your sudden urge to stop Morningstar. You just found out about her. She's not the Dark Lord who is currently terrorising Britain. And she has made you immortal."

"She attacked us. She told me that Harry had chosen me to live. She's using us. She wants to use Harry. If she succeeds, she will be the undisputed ruler of the world. We cannot let ourselves fall into that trap."

"I wish Harry had not made that choice," said Dumbledore, "It was her intention to make him choose."

Tonks looked at him sharply. Moriarty shook his head in disagreement.

"No, Harry did the right thing. Don't blame him. He made the less selfish decision. By choosing Lupin he gave his child a chance to have a father."

"His child?" exclaimed Snape.

"Nymphadora is pregnant?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes." said Tonks, giving Moriarty death glares.

The atmosphere changed drastically. Everyone was cheering Tonks and asking numerous questions from her. Sirius and Lucinda provided wine and soon they had a party.

Moriarty would take a sip of his wine occasionally but he was mostly deep in his thoughts. It didn't matter to him that Lucinda had collapsed on his back and her head was resting on his shoulder.

"Professor?" asked Hermione, "Don't you want to put Lucinda down?"

She looked at Harry and Ginny nervously who were busy kissing each other with no regard for other people in the room.

"His answer shall not be heard until he has reached it." blurted Filch as he poured some wine for himself. He was the only one sitting upright besides Hermione, Tonks and Moriarty.

Remus and Sirius were chanting a very familiar song.

"Are they chanting Jingle Bells?" said Hermione.

"Christmas! The time of great happiness!" said Filch.

"And it's only three days away from the winter solstice." whispered Moriarty as he locked his finger together.

"What's special about winter solstice?" asked Hermione.

"It is the time you get the least amount of daytime. That means you will have less magical disturbance in the atmosphere than at any other time of the year. The summer solstice is the opposite. There are certain types of spellbinding which need active magical currents, so they must be done at the height of magical disturbance. What Morningstar wants to do requires magical equilibrium. Once the bond between two worlds is established, it takes root and becomes permanent. The magical live forever while the non-magical keep perishing."

"Can't we keep them safe? Can't good wizards and witches protect muggles?" asked Hermione.

"No, I don't think we can." whispered Moriarty, "You see, along with Wizards and Witches who will pass through, come some of the worst nightmares of our kind. The Magi will be free to roam the a number of them, like Gog and Magog, are the bane of muggles. Our world is protected against higher powers, especially those who wish mankind ill."

"The Magi?" asked Hermione.

"Only a few still live on earth. They were the golden generation of wizards and witches from another dimension. They had incredible power, and they found earth. I don't know the details, but it seems that they ruled over humans and we served them as slaves for a long time. Until someone made our race smarter and more capable than mindless servants. Humans became too smart and finally tried to free themselves from the reign of Magi. A very powerful Magi, Yahweh, created two generals for us. He created the first modern man in his image: Adam and Eve. They United our kind and ended the Magi dominance … with the help of rebellious Magi."

"Hold on… that's… Adam and Eve as the Bible's Adam and Eve?!" said Hermione. She was shocked by the sudden revelation. "And Yahweh is God!"

Moriarty looked around and swiftly cast a privacy charm followed by a notice-me-not charm.

"Hermione, you were raised by muggles. I sometimes forget that fact. The story in their Bible, I'm afraid, is a very adulterated version of the original events. Please forget anything you know about these characters and try to keep an open mind. Where was I?"

"That Guy made genetically engineered humans." said Licinda with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes and barfed on the floor.

"Uh, yes, that's what That Guy did. Well done, Lucinda. It's best not to repeat a Magus's name too many times. Some things might be listening." He looked around cautiously, "He made three human clones in which he had embedded some of his own genes. You do know what genes are, don't you? Anyhow, The evil Magi were annihilated and the human race was saved from enslavement. Adam became the king and he made Eve his queen and happily ever after they lived, oh wait."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, sir, but was Morningstar a Magi ruler? Is that why she wants them back?"

"I'm afraid not. Her situation is a bit complicated and to be honest, I have little knowledge of pre-war history. However, one thing is for sure; if Morningstar manges to somehow bring every wizard and witch who has lived on this planet, she will also have to inadvertently open the gate to Magi. The difference is that this time we will all be immortal and neither Magi nor magical men can die. So as a friend of mine once said, it will be craptastic."

"I taught him that word," said Lucinda.

It took Hermione a few seconds to digest the information.

"Have you told Harry?" she asked.

"You will. I've never told you much, but I trust Harry has told you most of what he knows. You should do the same, Hermione."

Moriarty seemed no less alert than his soberness. Despite drinking a large amount of alcohol he seemed to be fine.

"How do you know all this?" asked Hermione.

"Well, let's say I had to spend a very long time with That Guy." he responded unhappily.

"You spent time… with who?" she asked.

"That Guy," Moriarty repeated. Lucinda pointed at the ceiling.

"I'm sorry. Did you just say you spent time with God?" asked Hermione in awe.

"Oh honey, he's not the Creator of the universe! He's just created us. Which is quite a feat now that I think about it. Yes, I suppose we could say I spent time with God." he said.

Hermione was shocked. Apparently, Lucinda had already heard this story before.

"Did He teach you Magic?" asked Hermione.

"Not the traditional way. He planted memory and knowledge in my brain," said Moriarty with a crooked smile, "It is a quite unpleasant experience to have. You should try it sometime."

"So where is he now?" asked Hermione excitedly.

Moriarty looked at her for a few seconds before answering, "I'm afraid he's currently out of the building."

After that very unhealthy drinking session, most of those who were in the kitchen had to go back to their bedrooms. They would for sure regret drinking that much later on, but Hermione knew they had needed it.

Only three people remained in the kitchen: Dumbledore, Moriarty and Hermione.

Hermione would have left with Harry and Ginny, but Moriarty had asked her to stay a bit longer.

"So Albus, you fought Orion Black. Did he... tell you anything?" Moriarty asked hesitantly.

Dumbledore looked at Moriarty with somber eyes. For a minute he seemed to be much older than the man who had just finished dancing with Remus and Sirius. He sighed and locked his fingers together.

"We didn't talk. Orion was much faster than I had expected, and I must admit, I had never fought someone so agile and swift paced. He confronted me when I was busy closing the third gate in France. I lost my wand, only seconds after the battle started…"

Moriarty began to cough violently. Hermione handed him a glass of water which he gulped down.

"You lost your wand?" asked Moriarty calmly.

"I -"

"We are in trouble," said Moriarty looking down. He was thinking deeply.

Dumbledore looked at Moriarty apprehensively whose hands were trembling as anxiety took over his mind.

"If she gets her hand on the other two we're doomed." Moriarty whispered weakly.

Hermione was confused. Obviously both men knew what the other two were. Couldn't they be a bit more clear?

"How could Deathly Hallows be useful to her?" said Dumbledore, "There's nothing she can't do without them."

"Do you remember my story of Genesis, Albus?" said Moriarty quietly.

"Yes, I do. However, I cannot connect the dots between Deathly Hallows and that story. They are quite far apart after all."

"No, they're not!" said Moriarty exasperatedly.

Dumbledore seemed surprised.

"Pewrell brothers have hardly any connection to our situation..."

"Come on, Albus! Think about it. Do you really think Death gave three brothers the ultimate tools for battle?"

"Well, No. I assumed that they had invented those dangerous tools for themselves. Also, I fail to understand how the Resurrection Stone could be a weapon."

"Albus, the Hallows were made by Morningstar and Good. Their sole purpose was to banish the Magi back to the realms of Magi. If Morningstar gets her hands on them, stopping her will be next to impossible."

Hearing that, both Hermione and Dumbledore gulped nervously. Dumbledore was so pale that Hermione wondered if his heart had stopped.

"It's OK… it's fine. Don't blame yourself, Albus," said Moriarty weakly, "She has got her hands on them many times and yet keeping them is where she has failed. As John Dee, he lost the wand to Aurelius. This time will be the same. What we really need to know," he looked at Harry who had passed out by the wall, "Is how Harry and Hermione fit into her plan."

**PP**18 years ago ***

Even though Peter had always disliked parties _ They were loud and chaotic _ he would never miss a single one. That was mostly because of friends, James in particular. With James parties weren't so depressing. There was someone who would talk to him. Sirius was a good person, too. He was extremely wild, but he would always back Peter when he needed it.

Peter respected Remus. That was how he had defined Remus; a respectable man for his tolerance and patience.

Lily was the moral compass of the group and Lucinda, she was just there to piss off Lucius. That usually made Peter laugh a lot.

So yes, parties could be fun when Peter was with them. Hogwarts was a very unique place and the best place to be for a Gryffindor. Dumbledore did not have a positive view of Slytherins and most of them were joining the resistance. Peter has heard about it. A man called Voldemort who wanted to change the wizarding world. That was a ludicrous idea. Changing the wizarding world required changing the situation they lived in and Peter knew Voldemort could only make things worse. But fighting that guy was not his duty. His duty was giving the firewhiskey to James so everyone could have fun and relax. Slughorn was kind enough to leave his secret cellar open. He had some expensive bottles there, but a cheap one would do the trick and Slughorn wouldn't miss it.

Marauders were a group of talented Gryffindors who happened to mess around occasionally. No one hated them for that, and Peter suspected that teachers like Slughorn appreciated them.

"Padfoot, look what I found," Peter gave three firewhiskey bottles to James. James loved sharing. And that meant everybody got some of it before Lucinda could have it all for herself.

Alcohol, magical or otherwise, had little effect on Peter. He was never drunk. He watched Lily and Sirius kiss. James kissed Lucinda, though Peter doubted that it meant anything in particular. Sirius and Lily were different. They were more excited and eager. Maybe Peter could help them a bit. They needed some privacy. Peter used his wand to turn a peach into a cute fluffy baby rabbit. He guided the rabbit to Lily and before she could catch it, he made it dart away. Lily followed it and Sirius went after him. From a safe distance, Peter kept tracking them. He had to make sure Filch didn't catch them. Fortunately, Mrs Norris didn't like being around Peter so if he was around the damned cat would be away.

Sirius and Lily lost the rabbit after a few minutes. But they were too confused to find their way back. They kept going up instead of going back down to the dungeons. At the fifth floor, Peter began to worry. What if they were headed to Dumbledore's office?

Sirius apparently had a different destination in mind. He had got the password to the Prefects' bathroom from Remus and he used it to get Lily and himself in.

Peter was relieved. They were safe. He had helped them well. He turned into a moose and waited then he found the closest hole in the wall and squeezed his small body into it, using his magic to dig and go through. A few minutes later he had the perfect view to the bathroom. Lily and Sirius were there and they were having fun. Peter patiently watched them until they fell unconscious.

Then he slipped through the whole and took human form. It was a pity that they had fallen unconscious before intercourse.

"Ah, the things I do," said Peter before aiming at them and casting Persuasion spell. They clearly wanted each other and Peter wasn't casting the Imperius Curse in Hogwarts. It was just a harmless Persuasion spell.

"Enervate!" he cast swiftly before turning back into a mouse.

He slipped into his hole and waited for the show to begin. Lily and Sirius deserved each other, all they needed was a little push.

To his delight they woke up and after staring into each other's eyes for a minute, they did what they were supposed to do.

The next morning Peter went after them. He tried to act surprised. His friends were convinced. Even Remus didn't suspect poor Wormtail to have anything to do with this.

"Did you have fun last night, Mr. Pettigrew?" asked Slughorn after his class. Everyone had left but Petter. He had screwed his potion once again. Poor him!

"Don't worry about the potion. We all make mistakes, that we do. Chocolates? They are quite delicious!"

Slughorn pointed at the Muggle looking chocolate bars and smiled reassuringly.

Peter took a piece and put it in his mouth. He felt a weird lightness in his head.

"Peter, tell me, do you happen to know where Sirius and Lily went last night? I looked everywhere but I failed to find them."

"They went out," said Peter.

"Is that so? Did you go with them? I didn't see you either."

"They were walking around and I followed them to the fifth floor," Peter's breathing quickened, "Sirius had the password of the Prefect bathroom. They went in."

Slughorn's face darkened, and then he cracked a creepy smile.

"Did you follow them in?"

"No," said Peter, resisting the urge to tell the truth.

"Have more chocolate, please."

"Thank you, that was enough. I am fat already." said Peter.

"So, did you see them come out?" asked Slughorn, looking away. His attention was occupied otherwise.

"I asked Remus to give me the password and found them in the bathroom this morning."

Slughorn seemed intrigued. He looked into Peter's eyes and asked, "I suppose they had a fun night then, don't you think?"

"Yes,"

"Do you assume something happened between them?"

"Definitely!" said Peter with a shaky voice.

"Don't worry about the mess, Mr Pettigrew. I will fix it. Go rest, you clearly need it."

**LV**Present day**

Miles away, in the now inaccessible Nurmengard, sat the most dangerous individuals in Europe: The Dark Lord, Tom Riddle; his infamous Death Eater, Barty Crouch Jr; Sirius Black's father, Orion Black ;and finally Dumbledore's Arc enemy and ex-lover, Gellert Grindelwald.

"Where is Her Ladyship?" asked Voldemort.

"She said she wanted to bring an important asset to our cause." said Grindelwald, "I think we have to wait for a surprise."

"Please behave yourself, Tom. We do not wish to scare this asset off." said Orion Black.

Voldemort did not say anything. He just tried to find a breach in Orion's mind for the thousandth time. When he resigned Orion gave him a brief tight-lipped smile and all of the sudden, his face and body began to morph into a new shape. Only seconds later there sat Horace Slughorn.

"Our guest is about to arrive, I think. He'll be much more comfortable with this old cheerful Portion Master."

Voldemort shivered momentarily. All his life he had been influenced by Horace Slughorn and just a few days ago he had realised that he was in fact Orion Black. The real Horace Slughorn had probably died many years ago, so he could be replaced by one of Orion Black's evil clones.

The door opened and a young schoolgirl walked in, accompanying a young boy.

Barty Crouch smirked.

"Look who's here! One of my favorite students!"

He jumped up and startled the young boy.

"Welcome back, my boy," said Slughorn.

"Why really?" said Voldemort impassively.

The boy looked at him with his blue eyes nervously.

"Allow me to introduce our newest member to you, my evil friends," Eve put her left hand on the boy's shoulder. "Ronald Weasley, welcome abroad."