Note: Hello! Here is another chapter for you...I should warn you now that, since we've had a chapter of Super Fluff, we shall now have a chapter of Super Angst. Again...I apologize!
Thank you to my reviewers, you're all wonderful. =)
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit from this piece of writing.
15: Bedtime Stories
Carrie Winters stumbled forward a few steps despite the steadying grip upon her arm and, reaching to hug her stomach with one arm, lunged forwards and vomited into a grass verge.
"It's alright, Carrie." she heard Mr. Lupin murmur, his hand coming to rest upon her shoulder, "you'll feel fine in a moment..."
"It might've helped it you gave her a bit of warning, Dad." Teddy, who when she looked up Carrie saw did not look queasy in the slightest, pointed out, but Mr. Lupin said:
"I was in a hurry, I'm afraid. Come on, let's get you inside."
Carrie allowed herself to be led around a corner onto their street, listening numbly to the conversation between the two wizards.
"Was that man a Death Eater?"
"Not precisely..."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well...if he was I very much doubt we'd see him walking around town like that. He'd either be locked up in a prison cell or in hiding. Besides, its not about Death Eaters anymore, Teddy. We're not in the middle of a war anymore."
"He looked as though he wanted to curse you into oblivion, Dad."
Mr. Lupin gave a grim chuckle.
"Him and all the rest of them." he muttered darkly, and Teddy's gaze dropped to the floor as he said:
"Oh...of course..." Carrie watched him reach to grab hold of Mr. Lupin's arm, hugging to him as he asked: "You're not going to move us again, are you?"
"No...not for now at least. They don't know where our house is so there's only so much trouble they can cause. That's why we had to apparate. I didn't want him to follow us."
"How does he know we live here? I mean...we could just be visiting the fair...or something..."
"Of course we live here, Ted. Why else would we be in a place as unremarkable as this?"
Teddy looked positively miserable as his father reached to unlock the front door, throwing the door open wide and striding into the hallway.
"Dora?" he called, glancing into each room as he went towards the kitchen, shrugging off his coat as he went. "Are you home yet?"
"Why would Mr. Goyle want to curse your dad into oblivion? Does that mean he's a wizard too?" Carrie asked as she and Teddy shuffled over the threshold, but Teddy seemed very focused on the task of unbuttoning his coat and didn't answer her.
"Up here, love!" Mrs. Lupin's voice called from upstairs, and Mr. Lupin strode back up the hallway, abandoning his coat draped upon the bannister as he headed up the stairs.
"You should probably sit down for a bit." Teddy decided, turning to eye Carrie's sickly complexion a little worriedly. "I'll fetch you a bowl or something...in case you're sick again."
As her friend hurried off in the direction of the kitchen, Carrie shuffled into the sitting room and sat herself down upon the sofa. She still felt a bit on the nauseous side, but the muggle found that she was much more concerned with the whirlwind of information that had once again he hurled at her with little if no explanation at all. That in itself was cause to feel sick, let alone experiencing apparation for the first time...
I've just disappeared from one side of town and appeared on the other...by magic...that's what it must feel like to be like them, to be a witch, to do magic...
Carrie attempted to ignore the excitement that bubbled up inside of her in order to focus on everything else that had happened, the cold look upon Mr. Goyle's face, Death Eaters and cursing people into oblivion. She still could not imagine why anybody would be so hostile about having the Lupins around, why they would cause trouble, make them want to leave...
They weren't leaving for now at least...that had been what Mr. Lupin had said...but now or later, leaving was still leaving, Teddy and his parents could be gone forever...
Carrie bit her lip in an attempt to stop herself from crying as Teddy came into the room and offered her a large plastic bowl. Carrie took it with a small nod and set it down upon her knees, watching her friend drop down onto the sofa beside her, drawing his feet up off of the floor so that he could hug his knees to his chest.
"You must think Dad's gone a bit mental." he said, voice terribly solemn.
Carrie wasn't quite sure what she thought, so she didn't say a word.
"Before we lived here...when we were in the other houses...it was bad if people recognised us...if they recognised Dad." Teddy explained, voice not much more than a whisper as he rested his chin atop his knees. "They don't like him living near them, other wizards. Some of them...they can be dead mean...they...do things."
"What sort of things?" Carrie whispered, shifting a little closer towards him, and his eyes drifted closed with a sigh.
"Nasty things to try to get him to leave." he mumbled vaguely, frowning into his eyelids. "They all recognise him, you see, since he's sort of...infamous. He's the one who get married to an Auror and had a son. That's...unheard of for people like my dad, so everybody's heard of him. They like him well enough until they realise he lives just up the street...then they do stuff. Mum says it would be okay if it were just her and Dad, but they get a bit worried when I'm around. We're not exactly in mortal danger, but it can make life miserable. Especially if its people like the Goyles...I've heard of them, they're a nasty family."
Yet again Carrie found herself longing to ask what people like his dad were like, but at that moment they heard footsteps on the stairs and after a moment Mrs. Lupin came into the sitting room. Today, Carrie saw, her hair was a dark, mahogany brown and her expression was just as somber as that of her son.
"Dad's having a lie down, Ted." she said as Teddy reluctantly opened his eyes and stared at her. "He's...tired. So I want you to give him a bit of space, okay?"
"He's going to get worse now, isn't he?" the boy said dully, arms tightening around his knees.
His mother came to stand before him, reaching to smooth his hair as she murmured:
"Of course not, love. Just...try to be good, won't you? Don't annoy him, stay cheerful..."
"He keeps snapping at me, all the time..."
"I know, love. Don't take it personally, he's just..."
"Down. I know. And he will get worse, I know it, if people start giving us trouble again."
"With any luck we won't have any trouble, Ted. And Dad'll sort himself out, you just have to give him a bit of space like last time."
"He wasn't like this last time. He's much worse..." Teddy's sentence became muffled by his mother's robes as she leant to pull him into a hug.
"Don't worry, Sweetheart, he'll be fine. Besides, what's all this miserable talk, hm? We've got the Potters and a few Weasleys coming round for tea this evening! That'll be fun, won't it? Tell you what, Carrie could stay the night, we could stay up late and tell her all about the War! What d'you think, Ted? I could morph Snape's face again when I answer the door and make Grandma Molly scream, Carrie's never seen that trick before, it'll be a giggle!"
Teddy's enthusiasm for this suggestion was not a patch on that which he had had for Santa's elves, but he did cheer up a little when he accompanied Carrie next door to ask her mother's permission and fetch her pajamas. When Arthur and Molly Weasley arrived some hour later and the Potters some half an hour after that, the atmosphere was merrier and downright noisy to say the least. As she watched Mr. Lupin ladling lamb casserole into bowls, chatting to Arthur Weasley about plans for Christmas day, in between a loud, yet distinctly light hearted argument with his wife about her preferred Christmas decorations, Carrie could scarcely believe that he was as depressed as Teddy claimed. But when she had pointed his out to Teddy, who was busy hiding behind the kitchen door in an attempt to escape the hyper-active hurricane that was young James Potter, he had smiled a little and mumbled:
"He's a good actor."
And before she knew it, Carrie found herself crammed into an armchair with Teddy, James and Albus sat fidgeting upon the carpet as the adults settled down to tell a very long bedtime story.
"Make Uncle Remus tell it!" James demanded when Harry drew in a deep breath to begin. "He tells stories better than you do, Daddy."
Harry closed his mouth again, frowning a little as beside him, his wife Ginny attempted to smother a snigger.
"How can Uncle Remus tell it better than Daddy?" Albus asked his sibling, eyes widening as if offended on his father's behalf. "Daddy's the main character!"
"But Uncle Remus does the voices." James stuck out his tongue and waggled it in Albus' direction, only for Ginny to point out:
"I don't think anybody does the voices for this story, James."
"Yes they do! Voldemort talks like this!" James cried, dropping his voice a good few octaves, eyes widening quite alarmingly.
"I never told him that, honestly..." Harry mumbled as Molly and Arthur looked somewhat appalled. Mrs. Lupin, on the other hand, seemed to find this highly amusing and did a very poor job of suppressing a shout of laughter.
"Besides," James continued, seemingly oblivious to his grandparents' disapproval. "Daddy's told it about a million times! I've never heard Uncle Remus tell all of it at once before!"
Mr. Lupin, who had been sat silently beside the door on a stool brought in from the kitchen throughout the little debate, looked vaguely embarrassed at James' blunt insistence, but he obediently began:
"Well, this story really begins many, many years ago, with a man named Tom Riddle, who we all know as..."
"VOLDEMORT!"
"...exactly, James, Lord Voldemort. He was the most feared Dark Wizard of the time, and by the time of our story he had gathered together a following of people..."
"The Death Eaters!"
"...who, as James rightly puts it, he called his Death Eaters. Now, Voldemort may have been the most feared and powerful Dark Wizard of the age, but there was one, extremely powerful wizard who he feared..."
"Dumbledore!"
"James, stop interrupting your uncle and let him tell the story!"
"The wizard's name was Albus Dumbledore, and he founded a secret society to fight against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It was called the Order of the Phoenix. Quite a few people joined the Order, including a group of friends, whose names were James and Lily Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin..."
"The Marauders!"
"James, for the love of Merlin!"
"But I'm right, Mummy, they were called the Marauders!"
"Nanna Lily wasn't in the Marauders..."
"Don't be picky, Al..."
"Shh!"
Mr. Lupin waited for a long moment until he had everybody's attention again, before continuing.
"James and Lily Potter had a son, whose name was Harry." He exchanged a small smile with the dark haired Auror sat opposite him. "And one day, something terrible happened..."
"I don't like this part." Albus whispered, ducking his head as if attempting to block out the sound.
"Voldemort went to the Potters' house, intending to murder all three of them for refusing to join him. He killed James first, then Lily, but when he tried to kill baby Harry something extraordinary happened..."
"Uncle Remus?"
"Yes, James?"
"You haven't been doing the voices!"
"Nobody's SAID anything yet..."
"Shut up, Al..."
"Shut up yourself, Uncle Remus is trying to tell us the story..."
The storytelling went on long into the night, and at times Carrie found it a little difficult to follow. No matter how often his mother scolded him, James continued to interrupt Mr. Lupin at every possible opportunity, and did the same to Harry when he took over to tell them about his time at Hogwarts. They got a little sidetracked when James started a debate with his aunt about the various reasons why she was happy to morph a pig snout, but refused point blank to demonstrate the weird and wild face that was Bellatrix Lestrange. Then, once the story of the War itself began the adults began to interrupt one another and discuss small, insignificant details for long periods of time as if they had quite forgotten that they were telling a story at all. Carrie had hoped they might give some clue as to what Mr. Lupin's "condition" was, but nobody seemed to mention it much, except for it made him suitable for a "special mission". There was a general lull in proper storytelling when Harry had recalled:
"And of course that was the summer when Remus and Tonks got married."
"Bloody nightmare." Mrs. Lupin had muttered, and Mr. Lupin had nodded his agreement, causing Molly to comment that really, that was no way to talk about the happiest day of their lives, and Mrs. Lupin had expressed her astonishment that her wedding had managed to be as successful as it had been. The following fifteen minutes were filled with her, Harry and Ginny's utter disgust and ridicule of a woman named Umbridge.
By the time Voldemort was lying dead in the Great Hall of Hogwarts and Mr. Lupin had dramatically announced The End, both James and Albus had fallen asleep upon the floor and most of the adults appeared to have drunk a little too much wine. Carrying a sleeping son each, Harry and Ginny had wished everybody a goodnight and disappeared into the floo, and Arthur Weasley had offered to help Mr. Lupin tidy up the kitchen before he and his wife left too. Teddy and Carrie had been summoned to help too, and so they had left the two remaining witches to talk.
Carrie had made to return to the sitting room to collect the last of the empty wine glasses when she had stopped just short of the door at the sound of what sounded distinctly like a soft sob. Glancing back down the hallway towards the noisy activity in the kitchen to find the door had swung almost closed behind her, the muggle flattened herself up against the wall and peered into the sitting room.
"Come along, Tonks dear, I'm sure it's not that bad."
Molly Weasley was sat beside Teddy's mother upon the sofa, one arm around the younger witch who was busy dabbing at her eyes with a large, lacy handkerchief.
"That's what I keep telling him," Mrs. Lupin said with a sniff, "but I don't think he...he just doesn't listen to me, Molly!"
Somewhere in the back of Carrie's head, a little voice told her to turn around and walk away, but she found herself rooted to the spot, worried to move in case they caught her spying.
"Of course he listens to you!" Molly insisted, patting Mrs. Lupin comfortingly upon the arm.
"I don't know...you know some days...some days he doesn't talk to me, he just...just sits and stares at the wall. And I look at him and I just think...I'm fighting a losing battle."
The older witch sighed heavily, frowning down into her lap.
"It's...difficult." she mused as Mrs. Lupin's hair shifted colour to a dull shade of blonde. "He needs...purpose. Distractions..."
"He needs a job, that's what he needs! If not he's going to waste away from boredom...either that or die of shame..."
"He has no reason to be ashamed..."
"Try telling him that! Stupid Gryffindor pride, that's what it is! I knew it would come back and bite us in the behind one of these days. Dragons don't change their scales. I thought having everybody round might cheer him up...but it was a stupid idea..."
"Don't be silly dear, it was a wonderful idea..."
"No it wasn't. He's stopped going round to Harry's, you know, hasn't been for weeks. He doesn't go anywhere much if he can help it, I think people make him worse. Those kids who used to ask him for help with things, ask his advice, they're all grown up, going out to work and looking after their families...I think he's happy to see them but its playing havoc with his mind all the same. I don't know what to do, Molly. I don't know what to say to him anymore..."
The door to the kitchen gave a soft creak and Carrie leapt away from the doorway, turning to see Arthur Weasley back out of the kitchen, calling his goodbyes as he went. Luckily he did not appear to find Carrie hanging around the hallway suspicious in any way, for he simply offered her a warm farewell and said that it had been a pleasure to meet her. She watched him bustle into the sitting room, Mrs. Lupin cramming the handkerchief down the side of the sofa as she got to her feet to bid him goodbye.
"Thanks for coming, Arthur." she murmured as she gave him a hug and Molly got to her feet.
"You tell Remus," Molly instructed as she too gave Teddy's mother a firm hug, "I'll be expecting him tomorrow morning, I've missed him coming round for tea and biscuits and I won't take no as an answer."
"Thanks Molly."
"You're welcome, dear. I'll come and drag him into the floo if he doesn't show up! You'll keep those spirits of yours up, won't you, Tonks dear?"
"I'll do my best."
"Good."
As the two Weasleys set about flooing home, Carrie hurried back towards the kitchen.
Tucked up in a makeshift bed upon the floor of Teddy's bedroom that night, Carrie struggled to sleep. She was much too busy worrying about Mr. Lupin. She could not quite decide whether or not it was strange to feel so much concern for somebody else's father, but she supposed she did not want the bubble to burst, to have the perfect little fantasy she could immerse herself in ruined by such dark moods and sadness. And whatever the problem was, she was sure that the Lupins did not deserve it, it wasn't fair. They were much too nice to have life treat them as it did, it made Carrie feel depressed too.
At 2am, according to the clock upon Teddy's wall, Carrie got up to use the bathroom, only to pause at the sight that met her when she began to open Teddy's bedroom door. She had barely pushed it closed a little when the door across the landing opened and Mrs. Lupin slipped quietly out of her bedroom door, walked to the top of the stairs, and looked down as Carrie had done at the figure sat at the bottom.
"Are you coming to bed, love?" the witch called softly, and when her husband made no response she let out a soft sigh and crept down the stairs until she was stood just behind him. She sat down on the step above him, arranging her legs at his side and reaching to put her arms around him. Head resting against the back of his neck, she asked:
"What are you thinking?"
There was a long pause, and Carrie slowly pushed the door open a little further and strained her ears to listen. She was vaguely aware that, yet again, she was eavesdropping, but for some reason she could not seem to persuade herself to go back to bed. She wanted to hear, to work out exactly what was wrong, to actually understand the full picture for once.
"I'm thinking...I'm tired." the wizard finally replied, fingers drumming thoughtfully upon the wall beside him. "I'm tired of...everything."
His wife's grip upon him tightened as her chin came to rest upon his shoulder and she asked:
"Are you tired of me?"
He turned abruptly and took both of her hands in his, bordering on panicked when he swore:
"Merlin, no! Never." He allowed her to lean to press a kiss to his cheek before admitting: "And that makes it so much worse."
She settled her head upon his shoulder and reached to pull his arm around her until he consented to holding her to him, and they stayed that way, sprawled upon the dim staircase in silence for a long moment before she yawned and mumbled sleepily:
"I love you, you know."
His murmured response was too quiet for Carrie to make out as he leant to press a kiss to her temple. Then they were silent for some five minutes or more and Carrie's suspicions that all conversation was over with were confirmed when the witch shifted her weight further against him and let out a soft snore...
Only to jerk awake at the earsplitting crash that sounded from the sitting room across the hall.