Chapter Six

Lupin's Memory

It was later in the afternoon and Harry sat down with the Weasley family for dinner. He was surprised to seeLupin was not present. He explained to Hermione that Lupin needed her help with the documents and so in her haste to get to them, she had taken her dinner in the sitting room. All that was left were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny, Bill and Fleure. Fleure kept the company busy with her comments about a wedding which might or might not take place and Harry had the pleasure of talking quietly to Ginny. Ron worked at keeping his parents attention away from their tête-à-tête.

It was only after supper when Harry entered the sitting room that he became mildly anxious. Lupin had either forgotten his promise or ignored it. Instead of Lupin, McGonagall was sitting in a chair talking to Hermione who was buried in books and was covered with their dust.

When he entered McGonagall looked up and rose to her feet.

"Professor," he began.

"No questions, Potter," she said quickly. "I am to escort you tonight. Remus will be waiting to meet you there."

"There? Where?What about my mum's diary?" he asked before she could interrupt.

"We have it. I have given it to Remus and he will discuss the matter with you privately." She was now looking a little more sternly at him and he glanced once at Hermione who looked up briefly and then bent her head to the parchments sprawled out in front of her.

No help from that quarter, he thought. "Alright," he muttered defiantly.

McGonagall nodded and led the way through the hall to the foyer and the front door. She raised her wand to remove the charms on the door. "I understand you are not allowed to apparate yet on your own so I shall assist you." She waited for his nod. "Good. If we become separated then return here immediately. Don't use magic if you can help it Potter. If it becomes necessary, then and only then, do so. Remember the Ministry will also be looking for you. It is wise not to have to deal with them either." She waited and again received his nod. "Very well. We're going to step out and go down the stairs to the street."

They stepped out into the summer night and Harry had a chance to see there was a half moon and that the sky was completely clear. There was barely enough light to see by but not dangerously so. The streets were empty and there was no one to watch their sudden disappearance on the street in front of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Where...?" Harry began and McGonagall shook her head. He followed her to the curb. She rested her hand on his arm and they disapparated.

…

Tonks followed the Death Eater out of the Crabtree Inn, a place not far from the village of Little Hangleton. The Death Eaters had taken to wearing black cloaks even in summer and masks- eerie white death masks-, or green scarves over their mouths and noses. She had seen many Ministry wizards, even some of her own colleagues, who had passed the wizards in black and had ignored them or hurried by as if afraid to confront them. It infuriated her each time she witnessed it and also frightened her as she recognized the extent of Voldemort's reach.

This particular wizard was acting strangely even for a Death Eater. Although he wore the requisite black cloak and had covered his face in a green silk scarf, he avoided acting like the others. He wasn't acted arrogantly, striding into shops and demanding free merchandise, or harassing citizenry for the fun of it. He did not walk the main street and have people shy away from him in fear. Nor did he stop to talk to another Death Eater wherever they were gathered. Although people did treat him out of deference when they met, he kept to himself and walked the back streets. He stayed in a shabby, rundown inn and left only in the dark.

It was now evening and the sun was setting later and later as spring lengthened into summer. The July days were warmer, the trees had leaves and the grass was green. The evening rain showers were less frequent, the streets were dry and the air warm. Even so, there were fewer people out enjoying the evening air and entertainment at the outside cafes. There were no longer garden parties with bright fairies dancing through the fragrant blossoms of little orchards, nor were there impromptu Quidditch matches. People were afraid and the atmosphere was more of winter, doom and gloom. It was particularly frightening when folks stepped out to fetch a pint from the local pub and they ran into a stray Dementor or werewolves prowling in packs.

Tonks noticed the man ahead of her was keeping to the shadows. This time the hood of his cloak covered his head and she didn't see the green scarf or the mask. This time he walked with determination. It was clear he was afraid of ambush or of someone following him, as he would stop frequently, glance around and retrace his steps to check his back-trail. Tonks took care to change her appearance frequently, to follow at a distance- sometimes creeping along on rooftops to watch the figure below.

She was impressed with his stealth and cunning. She had been trained rigorously as an Auror and yet it took all of her knowledge and skill to avoid his detection. She checked the object in her hand once again. If he disapparated, it was the only thing which would allow her to track him further. It would follow the shadow, the essence of his energy he left behind, and pick it up. It would guide her like a bloodhound to where he had apparated.

When he finally did disapparate, she arrived at the same destination many minutes after and it took some skill to once again locate him. However, she was grateful that she had kept the device before leaving the Ministry. Only certain Aurors were allowed to have them and they had been confiscated almost immediately after Dumbledore's death, something she often referred to in short-hand as 'AD'. (After Dumbledore). She knew that in Voldemort's hands it was a deadly device. He would be able to track wizards and witches attempting to escape, using apparation would not save them from his clutches.

This particular evening she followed slightly closer to him then she had previously. He led her a merry chase all over Britain and now they strayed dangerously close to the village where Voldemort family had once lived. Tonks knew that if she could find Voldemort's headquarters it would be a great bonus to the Order of the Phoenix. She hoped Remus was not worried too much about her and was concentrating on gathering people together to fight. Each time she saw another vampire out at night without the required legal restraints on their teeth, or werewolves running along country roads, she worried things were getting out of hand very quickly and they might not be able to stop Voldemort at all.

She stopped at the tobacco and holistic potions shop and watched in astonishment as the man ahead of her crossed the cobbled street and met another wizard in the shadows of a building. She kept watching the area around her carefully. This was the district where Ministry Law Enforcement had been finding the bodies of witches and wizards horribly murdered and mutilated. She knew she was in a poor and rundown section of the village and that it was often the haunts of very dark wizards. It did not surprise her that the Death Eater was meeting someone in such a place. It did surprise her that he was meeting anyone at all.

She could not hear their voices but studied the shape and size of the wizard the Death Eater was talking to. The shape was very familiar but she could not place it. She watched as something was passed to the Death Eater and the other wizard seemed to be groveling slightly in a subservient way. He then broke away and almost ran down an alley and into the dark, except that he was quite portly and seemed to waddle rather than walk.

She saw him turn once, probably out of fear the Death Eater has drawn his wand and is about to strike him down, she thought, although the Death Eater stood very still for only a moment and then vanished up the street. She was about to step out and follow the wizard when a strong hand covered her mouth and one wrapped around her throat. She was lifted off her feet by the presence who had seized her. Her one thought was; Remus will worry so.

…...

Harry apparated on the grounds of a cemetery alongside McGonagall. The area was very much like a garden with large ancient trees shading the ancient stones standing as sentinels throughout. Ghosts wandered through the stones and some even moaned or groaned as they passed. Harry ignored them and studied the area.

McGonagall put a finger to her lips and pointed towards the center. "I will keep watch, Potter," she murmured quietly and waved her hand toward the wide lane that cut the garden into two. "Go."

Harry followed the paved lane leading to a large mausoleum and which circled around both sides of it. He followed the white crushed stones of the path in the dim light until he came to the marble mausoleum. Not knowing what direction to take he paused and a figure emerged from around the marble building. Harry's hand rested on his wand and he was about to raise it when he heard Lupin's voice.

"It's alright Harry. It's me," Lupin said quietly.

"Remus," Harry breathed with relief.

"Yes. Come sit here on this bench," Lupin said and gestured at the stone bench before the mausoleum.

Harry complied and then looked expectantly into Lupin's face. He could barely make out his features. "Professor McGonagall said you have my mum's diary." He was curious as to why they were meeting in such a place, and was about to ask when Lupin spoke.

"Harry, I've brought you here for a reason. It is risky to have you out in the open but I think important. I do have the diary. Before I give it to you I want to tell you a story. I have brought you here because it is a backdrop to my story." Lupin sat down beside him.

"A cemetery?" Harry said quietly till very much puzzled.

Lupin nodded. "Yes, a cemetery. Harry have you ever wondered why you have no relatives? Aunts and uncles and cousins? What about Sirius and some of the other people you know about? Do you ever wonder what happened to them?"

Harry studied the mausoleum before him. The white marble was in moon shadow from a large overhanging tree. Remus nodded, raised his wand and said, "LUMOS" very quietly. The faint light glimmered briefly before he said, "Nox." The stone was engraved with the words: POTTER

"Shall we go in Harry?" Lupin asked.

Harry looked at the large stone structure with the metal doors and windows in them of colored glass. He swallowed hard and nodded.

Together they stepped to the doors and Lupin pushed one open. They walked inside a crypt where there was a stone seat placed under a stain glass window at the back of the small stone building. The walls were lined with niches for the coffins and marble covered each opening, each engraved with names.

Lupin lit a candelabra and stepped over to the wall. Harry read the names of his parents and above these were the names of his people he assumed were his grandparents.

"Have a seat, Harry," Lupin once more gestured to a small bench. There was a small marble bench sitting before each wall.

Harry sat down, almost speechless. His was overwhelmed with feelings and he didn't dare speak out of fear it might come out as a sob. He wasn't expecting to see his parent's grave site and it frightened and saddened him.

Lupin touched the stone covering each niche with his fingertips, holding the candles up so Harry could read the names. "James was like a brother to me. I loved him. And I loved your mother too. She was a wonderful woman." He turned to him. "People died too soon by Voldemort's hands, or by his Death Eaters. It was very much like it is now. It is beginning all over again; people have gone missing, found dead. However, we now have a better idea about who is the cause of it all then we did then."

He turned back and said, "James was outspoken you see, brash perhaps, as he often was. But this time it wasn't about silly immature school issues, it was about Lily and about her being muggle-born. She was a target, as were all muggle-born. They were disappearing and dying at an alarming rate and at the time we did not have any idea who was doing such horrible things. And, the truth is, if people knew they didn't talk about it.

"Dumbledore invited several of us to work with him to fight it. He formed the Order of the Phoenix and Lily was the first to join. James followed her, and then Sirius and few others and then me. For a short time that was what she was doing, working for the Order. One night..." Lupin stopped speaking, paced before the wall of names, studying them once again. " One night, James was called home. He was in training. He had been chosen as a Chaser for the Wigtown Wanderers and gone off to train with them. He was just out of school as we all were, so you were not a thought in anyone's mind at that time." Lupin turned and smiled wanly at him.

"My father didn't work?" Harry asked in a soft voice.

Lupin frowned slightly and shook his head in surprise amazed at how little Harry knew about his parents. "The Potter's were very rich; like the Blacks. However, your grandfather was an inventor." Remus held the candles up to the stone which read William James Potter and his birth and death date were etched below. "He earned his money fairly, not like Sirius' father." Lupin lowered the candles and remained silent. "

Harry cleared his throat, sorry he had interrupted the man's train of thoughts. "Go on Remus," he urged.

"Oh, yes," Lupin started as if he'd been lost in thought. "Well... James was called home one nighrt. He and Lily had only been married a short time and she went missing."

"Missing?"!" Harry barked. "What d'you mean missing?"

Lupin stopped and frowned and then continued slowly, "You must keep calm and let me tell this Harry. It is not easy for me to go back and remember this."

Harry studied the man's face and took a breath. He could feel his heart pounding furiously in his chest. It' s almost like having a bad dream and realizing instead that your awake, he decided. And yet, he knew it was not a dream; it had been real and it had happened a long time ago. He shuddered involuntarily, knowing what he was going to hear was not going to be good. "Go ahead, sorry," he mumbled.

Lupin nodded. "Your mother worked diligently to help others like herself. I think she had been rejected by someone in her family, much like Sirius had and they had a mutual understanding of such things. They helped each other out. We all remained close even after we left Hogwarts and you must remember we weren't much older than you are now. Anyway, her 'work' which many would call a sort of resistance or underground, drew attention to her. There had always been issues in the wizarding community concerning half-bloods and muggle-born as people who had inferior magical skills, and who later, because of Voldemort and his influence, BECAME inferior witches and wizards."

Harry huffed at this in fury and Lupin nodded sympathetically.

"Your mother was even more vehement then you about the subject. She had experienced that kind of prejudice in her own family, by-I understand- her sister, your aunt. And I guess it was in reverse. Your aunt disliked her because she had magical abilities." Lupin shook his head and sighed heavily. "So...she... went missing."

Harry waited patiently and watched Lupin. He seemed to be struggling with something and Harry bit his lip to keep from asking another question.

Finally Lupin sat the candelabra on a small shelf and leaned against the crypt wall. "James was beside himself, as you can understand. He asked for our help, Sirius and me. I lived on the fringes of society, Harry. Your father and mother did what they could to involve me, to always make me feel 'normal'." Lupin once again attempted a smile. "But they could not live my life for me and there are many who feel we are no longer human and therefore are even more defiled then a muggle-born." He shook his head. "That is beside the point. The point being, that I went looking for her, as did Sirius and your father. We were horribly afraid for her."

Lupin put his fingers to his lips as if trying to regain some control and Harry could see a glistening in his eyes in the faint candlelight.

"I went to the only person I knew who might be able to help. I went because time was of the essence. I went to Severus Snape."

Harry leapt to his feet and almost snarled, "Snape!"

Lupin's eyes drifted to him and his hand dropped to his side. "Your mother had been kind to Snape even though he had been cruel to her on several occasions. However, not so cruel as to not be able to leave her alone. He followed her from a distance, watched her- stalked her every move. He would not leave her alone no matter what James said or what Sirius did."

"What?" Harry groaned in anger.

Lupin nodded. "I think he cared for her in his own way. Severus is not, did not, have an easy life. He was jealous of your father and his abilities, his flair, his popularity at school, his close family: but Severus loved your mother. He wrote letters to her, found reasons to run into her and...ahh Harry!" Lupin dropped his head and shook it slowly. "That's not important. I just don't want you to be surprised when you read her diary."

"You've read it?!" Harry gasped in shock and then rose to his feet again in anger. "Why would you do that?"

"I have read parts of it. Let's just say it was for security purposes. What IS important is that Severus was connected to Voldemort at one time." He raised his head and looked at Harry squarely once again, " Should I proceed or should we discuss the fact I read it first before giving it to you. I told you Harry I would not treat you like Dumbledore did. I respect the fact that you are becoming an adult, however, you are still immature. There are some things you are not ready for. I am going to make a decision about what I can trust you with based on your reaction to what I am about to tell you."

Harry stepped back, regained his seat and ground his teeth in anger. He remained silent.

Lupin nodded. "I would never do this to you Harry but you must respect the fact that we are all in trouble and I have a duty to make the best decisions possible right now. I promised you this morning I would give you a lot of freedom and you shall have more when you turn seventeen. Right now you are defenseless against a number of dangers and you need to trust me."

"I would trust you Remus if you would trust me," Harry said between his gritted teeth. "I'm not stupid or incompetent. I can take care of myself."

"I am aware of it," Lupin said quietly and gently. "Was I not the one who told you that you were turning into a powerful wizard? Was I not the one who taught you the Patronus Charm? Harry, I am not your enemy. I am trying to be careful. I am not going to apologize for reading her diary. But I may have to apologize to you for what I am about to tell you. May I proceed?" He looked at Harry with a worried almost pleading look.

Harry grasped his hands before him. He struggled for calmness and patience.

Lupin continued, "I was not aware Snape was serving Voldemort at the time . I only knew he was involved in studying the dark arts and had been a protégé of Lucius Malfoy's. Malfoy was not much older than he was and the two families were close. I knew the Malfoys were a pureblood family involved in everything to do with ridding the wizarding world of impurity and if anyone knew anything about a missing muggle-born, in particular this missing muggle-born, it would be Snape."

Harry found he was holding his breath; his mind whirling furiously. Snape had watched his mother, followed her, cared for her! It was almost more then he could bare to listen to and yet he stared at Lupin without blinking, willing him to continue.

"... and Snape owed your father a favor. James saved his life. I thought I could use it as a bargaining chip," Lupin said softly.

"Did he know where she was?" Harry asked softly.

Lupin nodded and answered, "Yes."

"What did he want?" Harry asked so softly that if they had not been sitting in a crypt where the sound echoed off the walls Lupin would not have heard.

Lupin stopped his pacing and turned to him." What?"

Harry stood again and this time stepped over to him. "Snape would have wanted something in return for telling you her whereabouts. He wouldn't have told you just because you asked." He remembered the Pensieve and seeing what his father, Sirius and Lupin had done to Snape. He knew Remus would ask and he also knew Snape would take advantage of the situation, take advantage of the fact that his enemies needed him.

Lupin seemed paler in the wan candlelight. His gray eyes searched Harry's face and then he stepped back and put his face in shadow. "Yes, he did want something."

Tonks choked back a laugh when she heard the voice at her ear.

"You must learn to be more cautious and watch your back," Mad-Eye Moody grunted in her ear.

He let her down gently and she turned to him and whispered, "I thought you were in Azkaban."

"Azkaban can't hold an old leper like me," Moody snapped. "Remus bribed a few guards and they shook a few of us loose. Gettin' bad it is. Now who is it you be followin' gal?"

Tonks turned quickly and saw the empty street and shrugged tiredly. "Death Eater. I don't know who it is. He just had a meeting and then disapparated. I've been following him now for several weeks. Hoped he'd lead me to You-Know-Who."

Moody grunted again and pulled open the fist that clenched the device. "Got ya one them I see. Good girl. Let's go find yer Death Eater and 'ave a talk shall we?"

Tonks nodded, glad to have an experienced Auror, especially one like Moody with her.

"Jus' a mo' to send a little message," Moody said. He took his wand and wrote in golden letters in the sky: Tonks and me together-Moody. Then he waved his wand and blew at the words like a child blowing the head of a dandelion and the words were swept off into the air and vanished.