bThe Unravelling Chapter Nine:
Moony's Return/b
When Chloe got home around six, Lily had already prepared dinner for her. Chloe also noticed that the entire apartment had been cleaned and organized, specifically Sirius' area in the living room he called his office. There used to be piles of their old books from school (Sirius had moved these into their bedroom for the Christmas party) covering the floor in piles, and Lily had somehow found space for them on the over-crowded book shelf. Not only that but the fireplace had been cleaned out, the floors had been swept and mopped so that they sparkled, and when she entered the kitchen, Chloe almost felt the need to shield her eyes from the intense whiteness of every surface.
"I vote that I live with you – James can have Sirius all to himself." Chloe joked.
Lily gave a small smile, shrugging. "I had to do something to keep my mind off things."
Chloe agreed. "I suppose it must've been pretty boring around here."
Lily nodded. "Ryan has just been playing with his toys in his room for the last hour. Quiet as a mouse, he is."
"He's usually like that when Sirius isn't around." Chloe told her, sniffing the spaghetti sauce cooking on the stove top. "Has there been any news?"
Lily shook her head. "I've kept my eye on the window all afternoon, there's been nothing. I can only hope that it means everything is going as planned."
"I certainly hope so." Chloe confessed. "I should go get Ryan, I'm surprised he didn't come running out to greet me; he usually does."
Chloe left the kitchen, and hurried down the hall to Ryan's room. The door was ajar, and as she peered in she spotted Ryan on the floor, sleeping, amongst his hundreds of magical toys. An old fighter plane buzzed over Chloe's head as she entered the room. She was careful not to disturb the group of enchanted army men who were waging war in their little box that Sirius had created to keep them from destroying the house. As she approached Ryan, who was clutching his favourite teddy bear, his eyes fluttered open. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, his cheeks a rosy colour.
"Mummy?" Ryan asked through hazy eyes.
Chloe grinned. "Had a good sleep?"
Ryan nodded slowly, and stretched his arms up to her. She knelt down in front him, and he threw his arms around her neck, nuzzling his head into her shoulder. "You're a tired little boy aren't you?" Chloe had been informed long ago that Ryan would be prone to taking impromptu naps. His Healer believed it was largely due to the accidental poisoning when he was younger. But Chloe couldn't remember him looking quite so knackered. Perhaps Sirius's disappearance was having a larger effect on him then she thought.
"Is it dinner time?"
"Yes, Lily has made a great big supper for you to eat." Chloe stood up, still holding Ryan, and carried him (with some difficulty due to his weight) from his bedroom to the kitchen, plopping him down in the nearest kitchen chair.
Lily was already sitting at the table, her wand held out front of her with a focused look on her face. Chloe watched as the pot of spaghetti served itself while the loaf of French bread was being cut by a large knife, and three glasses were slowly filling with water and ice.
"Seriously Lily, can I please trade with James; nothing against Sirius, but he really can't cook like you. Everything is always made with magic, and I swear to you there is something fantastic when I know it's all done by hand." Chloe told Lily, with a look of admiration.
"You call this without magic?" Lily pointed out.
Chloe shrugged at the moving pots and knives. "Yes, but I know you made everything else by hand. Chopped everything yourself, stirred everything yourself."
Lily laughed. "Are you feeling all right? You sound like you've been taking some of your patient's potions. My cooking isn't that igood/i."
"Oh ha ha, I was trying to compliment you." Chloe snapped.
"Well, thank you." Lily said giving another smile.
"Mummy where's daddy?" Ryan interrupted their banter.
Chloe frowned, glancing at Lily. "He's out with James and Peter."
"Oh," Ryan looked down at his spaghetti, a small pout on his face.
Neither Chloe nor Lily spoke for the rest of dinner. All that could be heard was Alphard, in his cage, hooting occasionally. Ryan talked as well, mostly to himself and with his food, as he pretended spaghetti didn't want to be eaten complete with little screaming noises. Normally Chloe would chastise him for such behaviour, but she could hardly manage; he was just having too much fun. Lily and Chloe didn't say or look at each other. As the silence continued Chloe's thoughts slowly sunk to her worries. They hadn't heard from Sirius or James or Peter. Nobody really knew if they were alive or not – she could be a single mother by the morning.
Chloe's hand shook, and she fumbled with her cutlery. Lily looked up at her but Chloe didn't meet her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she focused on forcing such thoughts out of her mind. It wouldn't do anyone to think of such things. Sirius was okay, she would know if something was wrong. They wouldn't keep Lily and her in the dark.
When they finished eating, together Chloe and Lily cleared the table and prepared to do the dishes. Ryan had his hands and face cleaned, and was sent to the living room to watch the telly and entertain himself while they cleaned up. Lily filled the sink, adding the dish soap, and with her wand manoeuvred the stack of pots and dishes into the sink. With another wave of her wand, Chloe saw her move her lips slightly and the dishes began washing themselves, and placing themselves in their respective cupboards.
"When do you think we'll hear from them?" Lily asked, watching her wand-work in action.
Chloe sighed. "I don't know. To be honest Lily, you're more likely to know the answer to that than I am. I'm the one who always stays home, remember? It's all I ever do. I have to wait it out, wait for him to come home just so we can argue. I would get so mad because I wasn't even allowed to know what you five were doing. Never. So I don't know when they'll be back. I don't know if they'll even write us, or contact us in any way. It's a waiting game. We just have to live our lives and wait. To be honest, it's kind of nice to know that I'm not the only one anymore."
Lily was silent so a long time. Chloe felt guilty for saying what she had, but she had been honest, and Lily would understand that. Squeezing Lily's shoulder, Chloe turned and left murmuring that she was going to see Ryan. Entering the living room, Chloe sat on the couch. Ryan was on the floor, sucking his thumb as he watched cartoons. She reached, and began playing with his curly hair. He made no movement to stop her, so she picked him up, sitting him on her lap and wrapping her arms tightly around him.
"Mummy," he whined.
"Shush, mummy had a long day at work."
"Okay," Ryan sat still.
It was a few minutes later when Chloe felt Lily sit down next to her. "Can you please tell me what just happened?"
"I just told you the truth, is all."
"Well it seemed like you were telling me off for something." Lily gave Chloe a dark look.
Chloe didn't look at her. Ryan squirmed in her arms, and she let him go, watching as he slid off her lap and onto the floor where his toys were. "I'm not mad at you." Chloe looked at her hands. "I'm just tired of this situation. I mean, I'm worried all the time. Five times more than the normal person, I swear. I sit at home, I go to work, I take care of Ryan, and I wait. Wait to hear news if you're all alive or not. You understand what I feel now, and I'm sorry if I seem a little short-tempered but I don't have any answers for you right now." Tears burst from Chloe's eyes, and she quickly wiped them away. She felt Lily's arm around her, and when she looked up she saw tears in Lily's eyes.
"Why do we always end up crying together?" Lily choked, giving a half smile.
Chloe guffawed, wiping more tears away, laughing. "Because we're complete morons."
"Why are you two crying?" Ryan was looking confused, as he gazed at his mother and then to his Godmother.
"Because were idiots!" Lily laughed, lunging at Ryan, tickling him. Ryan squealed so loudly someone in another room might have believed he was being slowly killed.
"No more!" Ryan shouted when he was finally able to make sense of his words.
Chloe laughed until her sides hurt, and Lily finally released Ryan from his torture. He got up to runaway to his room, but just as he stood up bright green flames appeared in the fireplace. Frozen in place Ryan stared, waiting for something to happen. The smile off her face, Chloe grabbed Ryan just as Peter tumbled out onto the floor, sending soot everywhere. Without saying a word he quickly got out of the way, coughing and clutching on to his arm so that James along with Remus crashed into the living room next. James's one arm was soaked in blood, but Remus appeared unharmed. Chloe's stomach lurched when Sirius didn't come through the flames shortly after.
"Sirius? Where's Sirius?" Chloe gasped, still clutching Ryan to her chest.
"He took the rear he should be-"
There was another flash of green flames and James quickly got out of firing rage just as Sirius jumped out of the fireplace. Chloe scrambled towards him, her eyes moving quickly to check that everything was alright. Sirius was covered in sweat, his nice black robes ruined by dirt and mud – singe marks littered the cuffs of his sleeves where spells had almost hit. The only injury she spotted was a tiny cut above his left eyebrow
"I had to make sure they couldn't follow us," Sirius breathed; he leaned over, putting his hands on his knees as he regained his breath. Ryan reached out for Sirius, but he wouldn't take him. There was a pained look on Sirius's face as he resisted holding his family. "I had to destroy the place, sorry mate." He said looking at Remus.
"James!" Lily shrieked. Chloe spun around, and saw that James had collapsed on the floor, much of his robes drenched in blood.
"Get towels, get my emergency kit!" Chloe shouted next. She handed Ryan to Sirius, who took him without question. His eyes were wide, and he followed Chloe over to James. Lily sat on the floor next to him, tearing his robes away in search of where the blood was coming from. Remus had run off to get the things Chloe asked for and she saw that he was limping. But she would have to deal with that later.
"He's been hit by one of Snape's spells," Sirius spat, moving away so that Ryan couldn't see all the blood.
Chloe looked at Lily. "Lily, you know the counter-curse, you've got to focus." She put her hand on James's arm, where the large gash was, attempting to apply pressure. There was nothing else she could do. Although she had minor knowledge of the counter-curse it was left to Senior Healers to perform it as it was quite complex. Lily however was crying hysterically, shaking James vigorously in attempts to wake him up.
"Lily!" Chloe shouted so loudly the walls seemed to shake. Lily looked up at her; James blood now soaked the front of her robes and covered her hands. Tears were streaming down her face, and she took deep breaths to keep from hyper-ventilating any worse. "Lily, I know you're scared, but you're the only one who can help him right now. I don't know the counter – you do, and you helped create it so there is no one better in the world who could do this better right now. You need to calm down, and think."
Lily took a few more heavy breaths before finally nodding. Remus returned with towels, and a case full of medical related potions Chloe had brewed in her spare time at work. Taking the towels, Chloe tried to mop away as much blood as possible, but more and more seemed to appear no matter what she did. Her heart thumped heavily against her chest, and she could sense Sirius's eyes on the back of her neck.
"Okay," Lily drew a shaky breath. She slowly moved into position, crossing her legs, and taking her wand from Remus who handed it to her. Everyone stood still, taking uneasy breaths as they watched Chloe and Lily try and revive James. Helping Lily pull James into her lap, Chloe kept a close watch on James's arm. Lily held her wand in one hand just above the dark cut, and her other hand on James's forehead. More tears fell down Lily's eyes as she began to murmur a complex spell. Meanwhile Chloe uncorked a bottle blood-replenishing potion and poured some into James mouth. As she did so she looked back at James's arm to see that it was quickly healing. The blood flow seemed to cease, and she watched as the skin came together, turning into only a minor cut. Lily continued to murmur the strange spell until the wound was a dark scar on James forearm.
"Good, very good," Chloe praised. Chloe had seen this spell at work before, but she had never seen a cursed wound heal so nicely or so easily. Clearly there was something in this spell that Lily understood far beyond any of the healers at St. Mungo's. She began applying some dittany leaves across the scar as it would help reduce redness.
"So much blood," Lily croaked. She was stroking James's sleeping face, but her eyes looked up and down. The blood seemed to be on everything, her robes, Chloe's robes, the floorboards, and much of James lower half.
"It's alright, I've already given him a blood-replenishing potion. He'll be okay as long as he gets it every hour. He'll be normal and healthy within twenty-four hours." Chloe assured her friend.
"Thank you," Sirius stood behind Chloe, his hand on her shoulder. Chloe looked up at him, tears in her eyes. Her heart was still beating wildly, and she stood up, wiping her tears away.
"Let me look at that cut," she said, taking a moment to cough in her sleeve. Gently she dabbed the blood away from Sirius's forehead with a small cloth. When she was finished she applied some Murtlap essence. "It should heal within a few minutes."
"Good, because I think you have bigger problems to fix." Sirius said, nodding towards Remus and Peter.
Chloe turned and saw what he meant. Remus had torn part of his trousers away to reveal a long cut down his leg. "I nicked myself on a tree branch when we were running," Remus explained. Next to him sat Peter who's arm was broken, a large piece of bone sticking out of his elbow. She preformed the appropriate spells and gave them various potions to help the process.
"The worst thing is that isn't even from the battle; I got it caught in the wrong grate when we took the floo network." Peter explained, wincing as Chloe said iepiskey/i, repairing the bone.
"Can you help me move James off the floor?" Lily asked, looking to Sirius. Sirius nodded, telling Ryan to go to his room and to stay there until Chloe or he came to get him. Ryan nodded, and ran towards the hallway but Chloe saw from the corner of her eye that he was hiding in the dark hallway.
Sirius held out his wand, and with a wave James body slowly floated into the air. With Lily following they moved James down the hall and into the spare room – Ryan hiding momentarily in his bedroom.
"What happened?" Chloe turned to Remus and Peter who were both nursing their wounds.
"Death Eaters arrived." Remus began. "When I left to find the others Voldemort came with his Death Eaters. They visit Greyback and his cronies once and awhile to make sure that they are still in allegiance with Voldemort. He likes to come close to full moon time because the wolves are much more heated, you can't even imagine what they say about the Wizarding world. I only assume that Greyback noticed my absence shortly after, and they set out to find me. I believe he knew then that I was off meeting Sirius, James, and Peter. He took a lot of convincing to let me re-join them since they discovered I was working for the Order last time."
"How did you convince him?" Chloe asked next.
Remus gave her a dark look. "I'd rather not say, Chloe."
Feeling a little hurt that he wouldn't share, Chloe glanced at her blood-stained robes. iScourgify/i. Soap bubbles appeared, and disappeared along with the blood.
"Meanwhile we were in the forest, trying to convince Remus to come with us." Peter continued. "We had only been talking ten minutes when the first Death Eater arrived, Dolohov."
Remus cut in. "That's how Sirius got cut. The first spell sent flying at us was the cruciatus curse, right at Sirius. He managed to avoid it by jumping away, but James own spell - idiffindo/i - hit him in the forehead. We got a little disorganized, and more Death Eaters and the werewolves who have wands followed. We just started sending hexes and curses everywhere. Peter transformed into a rat, and nearly got trampled on by one of the masked Death Eaters. Another one – I know it was Snape – came out of nowhere, sent a body-binding spell at James, and tried to slice off his arm. But Sirius blasted him away before he could finish the job and they started duelling.
"I could sense that Voldemort was getting closer; I knew there was no way we were going to get out of there alive if he showed up, so I cursed the Death Eater I was duelling, got rid of a few of the wolves – most aren't that good with a wand. They aren't normally allowed to use them to sort of spite the magical world for the prejudice held against them. I grabbed Peter by the tail, and just ran towards the one direction there weren't any Death Eaters. James and Sirius got the hint, and sent every spell they could think of at the others and followed us. As we ran, they transformed, and I was the first to Apparate to my flat.
"Once I was there I let Peter transform back, and a second later James and Sirius were back. James was bleeding pretty bad, but we were more worried that they would follow us. I put every protection charm I could think of on the flat and Peter decided to take the floo network. I followed with James, holding on to him because he had already started to look pale from the loss of blood. Sirius said he would finish off, and went after me. Merlin knows what my flat looks like, I probably don't even have a fireplace anymore." Remus gave a harsh laugh.
Chloe cringed, and looked at her friend. There were new scars on his face since the last time she saw him, and where his robes had been torn away she could see fresh bite marks. "Remus-"
"Some of them don't stop being wolves, Chloe. You have to fight if you want to eat, just like a real pack." Remus said giving a stern look that read do-not-ask-anymore.
Leaning her head on his shoulder, Chloe said nothing more. There was nothing else she needed to know. Her eyes fell on the low ambers in the grate of her fireplace, almost waiting for someone else to appear. She felt tired, and wanted to fall asleep right there on Remus's shoulder. But she had to stay awake to make sure that James was okay and getting his potion at the proper times. Her stomach lurched on the thought of that. If she wasn't careful, and didn't give him his potion at the proper times he might not ever wake up again. As she thought Sirius reappeared in the living room. Ryan was in his arms, still awake, looking terrified.
"He couldn't sleep," Sirius said, sitting in the chair.
"How is James?" Peter asked.
"Still asleep, Lily is sitting with him. I changed his robes, gave Lily some of yours Chloe, I hope you don't mind-"
"-of course not-"
"But she refuses to leave his side. I explained to her what happened, how that bloody bastard Snape came after him. She seems to think that it's her fault – the loon." Sirius shook his head.
Chloe fully understood why Lily felt that way, but she kept this to herself. "Remus told me everything."
"He did?" Sirius glanced at Remus. Chloe caught this, and rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry, he's refusing to tell me how he weaseled his way back into Greyback's crowd too." Chloe bit back.
"You're allowed to keep it to yourself, Remus," Sirius said, "For now."
Remus said nothing, but struggled to stand up. "I should go; in less than twenty-four hours I will be transforming. And the smell of blood is beginning to get to me."
"But where will you go? You can't be alone right now, Remus, please stay until the morning and then we'll figure something out." Chloe protested. Remus shook his head.
"I know how to take care of myself, Chloe. Dumbledore will be wanting to see me and he will have a place for me to transform near Hogwarts, I am sure."
"The shack?" Peter said, almost accusingly. "You can't go there alone."
"But I will," Remus shouted. Ryan jumped in Sirius's arms, and began crying. Looking sorry that he had yelled, he attempted to calm Ryan, but his Godson simply moved away, burying his face in his father's chest. "I'm sorry, I've got to go. I'll see you in two days to check up on James."
"Remus-" but it was too late. Remus rushed to the door, shut it behind him without another glance or word in their direction.
"Do you think he will be okay?" Peter asked, looking at Sirius.
"Dumbledore will take care of him. Voldemort fears him more than anyone." Sirius confirmed.
Chloe took another shaky breath, and stood up. "If you want Peter, you can stay here the night. I can make up the sofa bed for you."
"No, no I should go home. My mother is probably worried about me. I'll be fine, I'll be back tomorrow." Peter said.
"All right, see you tomorrow." Chloe agreed. Sirius wished his friend good night, and disappeared into his bedroom with Ryan. Peter said one last goodbye and flooed home.
Alone Chloe glanced around the living room. James's blood was all over the hardwood along with his shredded robes. Her potion kit was strewn around the room, and she knew this couldn't wait until morning. She swallowed hard on the lump that had built in her throat. She could handle this. Raising her wand a scrub brush appeared along with soapy water and the blood on the floor was quickly scrubbed away. Meanwhile Chloe began to collect her things and replaced the potions back into her kit.
When she finished straightening the furniture, she grabbed her kit and went down the hall into the spare room. James had been put into bed, stripped of what was left of his dirty robes, with the covers wrapped tightly around him. He was unmoving except for his chest which periodically moved up and down. Lily lay next to him, her body nestled close, her head on his chest. Her eyes were wide open and she seemed to be somewhere else than in her present. When Chloe entered her green eyes flashed to the doorway.
"I need to give him his second dose. I'll come in here every hour to make sure he gets it." Chloe told her, setting her kit on the dresser. uncorking the blood-replenishing potion.
Lily sat up, shaking her head. "No, you've been working all day long. I know how to do it, I will stay up with him. If I need any help I will come and get you."
Chloe thought about it. It was true Lily could easily handle this, and truth be told she was a little concerned right now about Sirius. "Are you sure?" Chloe checked. Lily nodded, reached for the vial in Chloe's hand. "Okay, well make sure he gets it every hour. He should wake up after the third or fourth dose, but you must make sure he takes it until the entire vial is empty. Understand?"
"Yes," Lily said firmly, and took the vial from Chloe's hand.
Chloe stood and watched as Lily gently lifted James's head, and poured the contents of the vial into his mouth. When she was finished she re-corked it, put it on the side table, and lay back down on his chest. She looked at her and gave a small smile. "I'll be fine."
Taking this as her cue, Chloe left the room and headed to her own. Sirius was lying in bed, wearing his boxers, his destroyed robes in a pile on the floor. Ryan was in his arms, sound asleep. Slowly changing into her nightgown, Sirius watched her from across the room, a misty look on his face.
"Where are you?" Chloe asked as she got under the covers next to Sirius.
"It shouldn't be this way. I shouldn't keep doing this to you and Ryan." Sirius whispered.
Chloe shook her head, placing a hand on his. "Let's not do this now. Wait until the morning, when we've both had some sleep. I'm just glad you're home."
Taking hold of her hand, Sirius raised it to his lips and kissed it lightly. Getting comfortable, he slowly rolled Ryan into the middle of the bed. Moving closely together, she and Sirius put their arms around each other, holding Ryan in between them. In his sleep he mumbled, "I love you," and Sirius and Chloe chorused the same before at last falling asleep.