A/N: Because several reviewers mentioned how it was difficult to follow the last chapter, this one picks up right where the previous chapter left off. My original plan was to follow each person in the past in turn (Mary, James and Lily, Frank and Alice, Sirius, and Remus) from the point that Luna left onwards but because of the over lapping time frames there is some confusion and from here on out I will keep it as linear as possible. I apologize for any confusion in the last chapter…I could have made it easier to understand if I included dates so I will try that from now on.
I appreciate all of the feedback I receive for all of my stories and I am glad so many of you take enough interest to give me pointers and let me know when I can do better in certain areas so thank you all :) You mean a lot to me and you are all the reason I keep writing.
Also, I did not have the opportunity to check all of my quotes to make sure they were verbatim from the books so I apologize if they don't match up exactly. I have had this chapter completed for about a week now but have been putting off posting it because I hadn't yet checked everything against canon but I've decided to post it as-is :) Enjoy!
Yours,
MofDA
…
October 31, 1981
Sirius was dueling when he heard the news; he had completed his mission, capturing a few of the worst Death Eaters of the time. He had them tied up and unconscious in an adjacent room as he dueled with Bellatrix and Rodolphus.
Bellatrix swore suddenly and Rodolphus grabbed his left wrist where the Dark Mark was. They looked at each other in horror and Bellatrix hissed, "The Dark Lord!"
They disapparated on the spot and Sirius knew. Something bad had happened; something that had hurt, possibly even killed, Voldemort. Immediately, Sirius leapt onto his motorbike and flew as fast as he could toward Godric's Hollow.
When he arrived, the house was still smoking, "No," he groaned, tears leaking out of his eyes, "Merlin, no," he pulled the bike up the drive, and leapt off of it, running toward the house. Hagrid came out, sobbing, tears soaking into his big bushy beard, holding a bundle that Sirius knew contained Harry.
"Hagrid," Sirius choked, "I'm his godfather, let me have him. I will take care of him," he reached out his arms expectantly, but Hagrid shook his head.
"I'm supposed ter take Harry straight ter Dumbledore," said Hagrid between sobs, "Poor Harry. Such a tiny thing," Hagrid moaned, "Off ter live with muggles."
"Muggles?" Sirius asked sharply.
Hagrid nodded, "Dumbledore's orders."
"Take my bike," Sirius offered, remembering suddenly that Harry was to be raised in a cupboard under the stairs by his muggle aunt and uncle, "it will be faster." Sirius leaned forward, kissed Harry on the forehead and whispered very softly, "I will always be watching out for you."
Sirius turned on the spot, disapparating. He appeared in a muggle town where he knew Peter was staying. He searched until he found him in a crowded street. "Wormtail!" Sirius shouted, wand at his side. He was going to kill Peter for his betrayal, make no mistake about it, but first he would make him suffer. He wanted Peter on the ground writhing in pain for what he had done.
Sirius hadn't felt so hollow; so empty, since he had lost Lily Luna. And now he had lost James and Lily. He had wrongly suspected Remus of being a spy for Voldemort. His brother was dead. Harry was going to live with muggles. Everyone suspected him of being the Potter's Secret Keeper; he had no one left. Nothing left to lose.
Peter Pettigrew spun around to face his old school friend, "You bleeding coward!" Sirius roared.
"Lily and James, Sirius!" Peter yelled, almost nervously, glancing around to make sure people were listening, "How could you?" Peter was sobbing, and it wasn't at all fake. He really was scared for his life.
He flicked his wand behind his back, just as Sirius was raising his wand, and the street exploded. Bodies everywhere; Peter gone; one bloody finger left lying right next to a storm drain. Ministry of Magic officials were there before Sirius had even fully registered what had happened. The first and only time Peter Pettigrew had ever got the best of him, and it was this.
Laughing at the irony, Sirius fell to his knees and gave himself up to the aurors. He understood now why Lily Luna had sometimes looked at him with those sad fearful eyes; she knew that this is what his future held. Azkaban. Prison. Dementors. Death.
He was laughing manically as they brought him to the godforsaken place and still all he could think about was how wrong he had been about everything. He wanted to apologize to Remus; to beg forgiveness from James and Lily; to raise Harry like a son, but it was too late for all of that now. He made his bed and now he would have to lie in it.
There was one tiny ray of hope. Frank and Alice knew that he hadn't been the Secret Keeper. Peter, being the Secret Keeper, told Sirius the address as well as the Longbottoms. He never got the chance to tell anyone else before relaying the information straight to Voldemort. But he waited and waited. There was never a trial. Why wasn't there a trial? Frank and Alice were both Aurors. Surely with their testimony he would be given a trial.
Before he could even contemplate why they never came forward and vouched for him the despair set in. It was impossible to ignore the despair that was caving in on him from all sides.
…..
"Sirius is in Azkaban!" The squeaked hysteric voice of his wife woke Frank from a deep sleep. They'd heard about the Potters on the first of November, the morning after it had happened. They'd been up together all night sobbing, waiting for Sirius or Remus to come by, waiting for word on Peter's capture. After all, surely Dumbledore was aware of who the Potter's had trusted as their Secret Keeper?
Frank had finally fallen asleep in the wee hours of the morning. Alice, however, had been unable to find any peace. She got up just after Frank succumbed to sleep, she rocked and fed Neville, then she began cooking when, on the second of November, the owl had tapped on the window bringing in the Daily Prophet.
"What?" A groggy Frank rubbed his eyes and sat up quickly. "Whatever for?"
"For the murder of twelve muggles! Oh, dear Merlin…Frank, we need to get down there right away. To the Ministry. We have to find out what really happened…it says in the article that he murdered Peter! Now that part is believable, I imagine I'd like to do that myself if I'd gotten my hands on him first, but Sirius wouldn't have murdered those people. It had to have been Peter. We can give our testimony and witness in court. I'll volunteer to take Veritaserum if it'll convince them of the truth…"
"Calm down, Allie," Frank groused in his deep morning voice as he shuffled over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I can see the fire in your eyes but before we storm into the Ministry let me shower, you get control of your anger, we'll ask my mum to watch Neville, then be on our way."
"Okay," she consented while nibbling on the end of her thumb nail. "Do hurry, Frank, I have a bad feeling about this…"
…..
Rodolphus, Bellatrix, Rabastan, and Bartemius Crouch Jr. circled the house three times before moving in. They'd slowly and mechanically dismantled all of the intruder charms and protective enchantments. It had taken hours but it was worth it. They watched through a window as Frank ran a comb threw his wet hair, dressed in plain muggle trousers and a t-shirt.
They spied Alice through another window as she scooped up her son from the highchair and set him in a stroller. They lived not far from Augusta Longbottom and were apparently planning to walk there. Because they thought that they were safe. With Lord Voldemort gone they thought they could walk up and down the street as they pleased. Well this was one blood traitor family that had another thing coming.
Bellatrix strode through the door first and Alice, caught completely off guard, was thrown to the ground as curse after curse hit her repeatedly. She screamed and writhed while Frank crashed through the house. He might have won this duel if there hadn't been four Death Eaters. He was winning for a shining moment until Bellatrix grabbed hold of tiny baby Neville and held him in front of herself as though he were a shield.
"DROP YOUR WAND!" she cried in her horrible soprano voice, "Or the child dies," she had a regular muggle blade in hand and Frank instantly dropped his wand while Alice, at his feet, gasped for breath and pulled at the ropes that were constricting her throat.
The Death Eaters wanted answers badly. They assumed that the Longbottoms, having been such close friends of the Potters as well as Aurors, had those answers. But the truth was they had no more idea what had happened than anybody else in the wizard community.
When it was clear that Frank and Alice were only barely conscious and had not yet yielded the information they so desperately sought, Bellatrix turned her wand on Neville Longbottom. The one year old infant was subjected to the Cruciatus Curse just as brutally as his parents had been. His high cries are what broke Alice first. She slumped over, on the floor, but she was conscious. Her eyes were open, taking in the scene, but it was as if she had no idea what was going on. The odd blank look frightened Frank but he was just as weakened as his wife and already the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears drowned out the cries of his son as well as the curses cast by the Death Eaters.
With no information to give and no way out, Frank's mind reached it's limit as well and he followed his wife into oblivion.
Seeing what had happened to their prisoners, Bellatrix dropped Neville, unconscious at this point, back into his stroller, gave Frank's body a swift kick, and left the house in a flurry of black robes.
Later, she would discover that there had been a few muggle witnesses to their exit who had identified the four of them to the Ministry of Magic. It was the testimony of those muggles that got them rightfully convicted and sentenced to life in Azkaban.
…
Florean Fortescue met Augusta Longbottom in the waiting room of St. Mungo's. They waited for hours while the Healers worked on Frank, Alice, and Neville. Augusta was a strong woman. A much stronger person than Florean who was sobbing unashamedly into his hands while he waited to hear the fate of his daughter and grandson.
Augusta sat poker straight with only the slightest tremble of her chin now and again. Augusta had been through a lot. She'd watched her husband die in front of her and she'd lost a daughter, Frank's older sister, when the girl had only been a few years old. And for now Frank was still alive. Neville was still alive. Dear, sweet Alice, who Augusta loved, was alive. She would focus on the positive.
As if in a dream she remembered her own torrid love affair with Frank Longbottom Sr. One of the reasons she had been so fond of her son's wife is because the two of them had closely mirrored the relationship Augusta had had with her Frank. They'd met at Hogwarts also. Frank Sr., like his son, had also been a Hufflepuff. Augusta, like Alice, had been a Gryffindor.
Very slowly she let herself remember all of the precious moments that had caused her pain to think of these last few decades. She thought of Frank Sr. and how smart he looked in his best dress robes on their wedding day. She thought of the day her daughter was born, the day she'd given birth to Frank, chasing her children through the house. She remembered the family picnics at the local park and how Frank's first word had been 'duck' as he pointed excitedly at a family of geese in the pond.
But the tears in her eyes never spilled over. She hadn't lost them yet. When the Healer finally emerged, looking exhausted, he wiped the sweat off of his brow and looked at Florean and Augusta gravely.
"I'm so sorry, Mrs. Longbottom and Mr. Fortescue, but there is nothing I can do for your son and daughter. Frank and Alice have both been tortured beyond repair mentally. While I have healed all physical injuries their minds are…empty. They will have to stay here, in the permanent spell damage ward, for…well, for the rest of their lives."
Augusta was thankful she had already been sitting when she received this news. Frank was no longer Frank. He was just the shell of her son. She might as well have lost him. In a way, she wished he was dead rather than go on like this. "And Neville?" she asked.
"Neville's magical core has been damaged. Stunted. There is a chance he will gain full use of his powers but there's also a chance he will not. Right now his magical core is showing absolutely no growth and he might not even be accepted into Hogwarts."
"They've turned him into a Squib?" Augusta asked softly.
"Not exactly, no. He is magical, but they have damaged that magic. He's a one-year old boy and from birth to the age of seven is the most important span of magical growth in wizards and witches. Otherwise, however, he is perfectly healthy. They did not torture him as they did his parents. His mental facilities seem to be functioning close to normal and-"
"Close to normal?" Augusta hissed, picking up on the word immediately.
"To be honest," the Healer sighed, "his short term memory might have been slightly impaired. I will not be surprised if he has trouble remembering things as grows. You will need to be patient with him. However, as I already said, there is a chance that he will be completely, 100%, normal. As if the Death Eaters had never touched him."
"Thank you. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to see my son and daughter-in-law, then take my grandson home," she stood, if a bit wobbly, and was about to follow the Healer into the private ward when she heard the sobs of Florean behind her.
"Florean..." she began in sympathy but he pushed her outstretched hand away.
"She's gone," he sobbed. "My Alice is GONE! You heard him, Augusta, her mind is empty. She will not recognize me. I cannot speak to her. She is gone and my grandson! He has been damaged and will not even go to Howarts!"
"Pull yourself together," the elder witch hissed, angered by this witless coward. "Your grandson is alive and well. He will need to be taught properly and with the right upbringing could very well still go to Hogwarts. Neville needs you. Alice needs you. Be a man for Godric's sake!"
Florean was shaking his head and childishly had his hands clapped over his ears. "I cannot-" he hiccupped "I cannot bare it, Augusta! I am sorry, but I just want to forget this…all of this…I want to forget Allison and Alice and…and Neville. As if I'd never had a family!"
Before she could move to stop him, Florean had his wand to his temple and uttered the one simple and terrible word, "Obliviate."
She watched his eyes take on a rather dreamy look. He blinked several times, focused on her, and asked briskly, "Whatever am I doing here? Hullo, Augusta, is there some reason why I am in St. Mungo's? I have an ice cream parlor to tend to, you know…"
"Oh, Florean, you poor fool…" she shook her head at him, ignored his question, and strode up the ward in the direction the Healer had disappeared. Now she was truly taking care of her family alone.
She was determined that Neville would never know of this. He would never pity himself. He would never think that he couldn't do things because something was wrong with him. Because, to Augusta, he was perfect. She would have to push him extra hard. She would need to be hard on him so that he would succeed, but they would do it together. He would reach his full potential if Augusta had to push him every tiny step of the way. Because she knew that Neville Longbottom was capable of and destined for great things. She would make damned sure he was ready to face everything that was to come.
…
In Azkaban, Sirius was unaware of time in the outside world. Had it been days? Weeks? Years? He wasn't sure. The place was unnaturally cold, and at night all you could hear were screams. He watched his fellow inmates die and go insane on a regular basis. Every time a dementor floated by he would transform into a dog and curl up in the corner with his tail between his legs.
Whenever his mind was on the verge of breaking, he would think to himself, "I'm innocent. I'm an innocent man." And of course he would think of her. His Luna. Thoughts of her weren't exactly happy, since he knew he would never see her again, so the dementors couldn't take her from him. Her brief visit was the only departure from the norm in all his time there.
"I'm innocent, I need to survive for Luna. I'm innocent, I need to survive for Luna," the two phrases repeated in his head constantly, until one day he was visited by a man in a green bowler hat who claimed to be the Minister of Magic and Sirius wondered vaguely why Barty Crouch hadn't gotten that job.
Blinking at the man, Sirius asked if he had a copy of the Daily Prophet. He would show them! He would show all of them! It took more than twelve years in Azkaban to break Sirius Black. "I like doing the daily crossword," said Sirius lazily as he glanced at the front page.
The minister mumbled a bit, said goodbye, and left. Sirius retreated to his cell with the newspaper, unable to stop staring. On the front page was a pureblood wizarding family who had a pet rat. A rat that just so happened to be the murdering traitor on which Sirius had sworn revenge. More than that; five of the children went to Hogwarts. The murdering scum would be at Hogwarts! With Harry!
Alarms went off in Sirius' head. When Voldemort returned, and it was only a matter of time until he did, Peter would be placed in the perfect position to take Harry to Voldemort. Sirius was the only one who knew. He was the only one who would be able to stop it from happening. Growling in frustration, he began to make his plans, and slowly it became his new mantra, "He's at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts, he's at Hogwarts…"
When Sirius escaped, it was like being born again. Only this time, everything wasn't new and exciting; it was old and gloomy. The road before him was dark, treacherous and lonely. Thoughts of those he loved were the only things that kept him going. He sped off toward the muggle neighborhood where he knew Harry lived, and he saw him.
Sirius couldn't take his eyes off of the boy. He was stomping down the street, wand in hand, dragging his trunk, muttering under his breath. Sirius inched closer, careful to stay in the shadows. "Merlin, I'm going to be expelled," Harry groaned as he flung himself onto the curb.
Sirius couldn't get over how much he looked like James. They could have been twins except for the eyes. This was the man who would grow to be the father of the woman he loved? Sirius watched him with pride until Harry caught sight of him. Harry leapt to his feet, wand at the ready, and BANG! The Knight Bus appeared. Sirius quickly melted back into the shadows and began his long journey to Hogwarts on foot.
He stayed hidden in Hogsmeade, occasionally begging for scraps, while keeping an eye on the school. A cat came by occasionally and Sirius was shocked at the level of intelligence the creature possessed. He was able to convey to the cat his intentions, and the cat agreed to help, as it had also sensed the rat was not actually a rat.
Before Sirius could lay hands on Peter, he faked his own death again. Sirius was living in the Shrieking Shack and using the Whomping Willow passageway to sneak in and out of Hogwarts. At night, with the dementors no longer there to steal his good dreams, he started dreaming of her again. Luna came to him each night and he missed her now more than ever.
The life of his wife depended on the life of Harry Potter. As if Sirius needed any more motivation to protect the boy. He owed Harry Potter so much he couldn't begin to atone for it all. He snuck onto the grounds of Hogwarts more than once. He watched Harry play a fierce game of Quidditch against Hufflepuff, only to be beaten because he fainted at the sight of dementors.
Wanting to be as much of a godfather as possible, Sirius snuck into Diagon Alley with Crookshanks the cat and was able to inadvertently purchase a brand new Firebolt, which he sent to Harry for Christmas, as his Nimbus had been smashed to bits by the Whomping Willow.
Sirius watched Harry play Quidditch often; he was just as good as James had been, possibly even better. The Firebolt was spectacularly fast and Sirius couldn't help but fill with pride at the sight of Harry riding it.
Then everything came to a head. Sirius was creeping around in the shadows in the Pumpkin Patch behind Hagrid's Hut, hoping to catch a small animal or two for his dinner, when the backdoor banged open and out scrambled Harry with two friends. Sirius retreated immediately, thankful that they hadn't spotted him.
The tall red-headed boy was holding a rat. Wormtail! Sirius stalked them across the grounds, and Peter spotted him. The rat went ballistic, biting the boy who was holding him, and he fell to the ground. "Scabbers!" yelled the boy.
"Ron!" yelled Harry and the girl. The three of them threw off the Invisibility Cloak that had been hiding them and Ron snatched up the rat. Sirius snatched up Ron. He dragged the boy who was holding the rat into the secret passageway at the base of the Whomping Willow. He heard a sickening crunch and knew that he had accidentally broke the boy's leg; but if he would just stop squirming!
Finally, they reached the Shack and Sirius flung the boy and the rat onto a couch. He morphed back into his human form and Ron screamed. "Give me the rat," Sirius growled.
"What are you going to do to him?" replied Ron stupidly.
"Kill him," Sirius snarled and he lunged for him, but Ron maneuvered around so Sirius couldn't reach Peter. With his attuned ears, Sirius heard people approaching, and retreated to a hidden corner, clutching Ron's wand which he had obtained in the scuffle.
Harry and the girl barged into the room, wands at the ready, and Ron screamed wildly, "Harry! Hermione! It's a trap! He's not a dog, he's an Animagus! Sirius Black!"
Harry spun around and they faced each other for the first time man-to-man. Sirius blinked at him, feeling the urge to cry with joy, but Harry's face was screwed up in pain and anger and he lunged at Sirius with the intent to kill. Sirius wrestled with Harry, not daring to draw his wand against the boy.
The ensuing ruckus was pandemonium. Remus appeared, and Sirius finally had his chance to apologize to his best friend. Remus apologized also, having likewise suspected Sirius of being the spy. Harry demanded to know what was going on, and patiently, they explained to him the misunderstanding.
They told him that the rat was not a rat; it was the man who had betrayed his parents. Severus Snape appeared and Harry, Ron, and Hermione each attempted to disarm him at the same time; effectively knocking him unconscious. Snape wasn't just protecting Harry because he loved his mother; he was also protecting Harry for Luna, who had been a rare friend to him.
Even though Snape had never fallen in love with Lily Luna, he had loved her like a friend, and he missed her when she had left. It was the only link that connected Snape to Sirius and they resented it dearly.
When the full moon forced Remus to transform into a werewolf, Sirius leapt into action, protecting the children.
Snape regained consciousness and also tried to protect the students. In the chaos, Peter Pettigrew escaped again. Without him, there was no evidence that Sirius was innocent. He would certainly be condemned to death. When he reached the castle and was escorted in, the Minister of Magic was almost excited to announce that his sentence was worse than death; a dementor's kiss.
Sirius sighed sadly. At least Harry knew he was innocent. That meant something. Also, Harry was safe, and Dumbledore was obviously watching out for him. It wouldn't be terrible to die now, he thought. Maybe if there was such a place as Heaven he could be with his loved ones again. But would his soul be able to reach Heaven if it was sucked into a dementor?
He leaned his head back against the stone wall, closed his eyes, and did his best to remember what it was like holding Luna in his arms. In his memories she was still the same seventeen year old vivacious girl, even though he was now a 35 year old man. He tried to picture what she would look like at his age, and the image his imagination conjured up was still gorgeous.
He remembered the way she tasted; so sweet and spicy; like vanilla and cinnamon. She loved him, and at that moment, that was all that mattered to Sirius. Knowing that Luna had loved him in the past and would love him in the future, made him content with his present.
He heard a loud, "Bombarda!" and the window next to his head exploded. He scrambled out and leapt onto the back of a Hippogriff, barely aware of the fact that Harry and Hermione were also there with him. They landed on the roof of the castle to say their goodbyes.
"Hermione," said Sirius, looking the girl over. He wasn't sure if she was going be the mother of the woman he loved or not, but he had grown a fondness for this girl all the same, "You really are the brightest witch of your age."
She smiled at him and blushed. "Sirius, you have to go," Harry was pleading.
"I will," he said, "but first, I want you to know that I love you and I will be there for you any time you need me." Harry nodded and they hugged. Sirius held Harry's head to his chest, and wished he had been able to be there to watch him grow up. Before he had the chance to shed a tear, he leapt onto Buckbeak the Hippogriff and fled from Hogwarts.
He went somewhere south, he wasn't even sure where he was exactly. All he knew was that it was far away from London. He let a couple of muggles spot him there, and the Ministry of Magic went crazy to search for him, leaving Hogwarts alone and dementor-free.
He stayed safely hidden, corresponding on a regular basis with both Dumbledore and Harry. Until Harry sent him a very disturbing letter. His scar had pained him. Sirius felt sick. This was it; Voldemort's return. Sirius fled back to London, and along the way heard news of Death Eaters at the Quidditch World Cup. Harry had been there! Harry had been so close to Death Eaters and Sirius had been on a bloody beach in the Bahamas!
He would never forgive himself for being such a reckless godfather. What had he been thinking? He should have stayed close. He should have been there at the Quidditch World Cup to protect Harry. Once he was back in Hogsmeade Dumbledore suggested a nice cave for him to live in, and Sirius complied. He would never again make the mistake of being too far from Harry when he was needed.
Sirius hunted rats, mostly, pretending they were Peter, he would stalk them and kill them quickly. He begged for scraps, but not often enough to draw attention to himself. He really did have a lovely demeanor as a dog and more than once he would remember the way Lu-Lu would scratch his ears and call him 'adorable.'
When Harry needed advice with girls and fighting a dragon and the Yule Ball, Sirius was there. When Harry was terrified that someone was seeking to kill him by putting his name in the Goblet of Fire, Sirius comforted him. When Harry entered the Black Lake to retrieve Ron, Sirius watched secretly from the sidelines, ready to dive in at a moment's notice.
Finally, when Harry entered the maze during the Triwizard Tournament, Sirius was forced to watch from Hagrid's Pumpkin Patch, which didn't have a very good view of the Quidditch Field. All he could hear were the cheers and boos from the crowd. His ears were perked, his lips drawn back in a snarl, his claws dug into the rich dirt beneath his paws, ready to spring into action when he was needed.
Eventually, he knew something was wrong. He could hear screams of horror and the tormented cry of, "My son! My son!" Sirius paced around the patch, not knowing what to do. Should he stay put? Seek Dumbledore? He was becoming very impatient. Was Harry hurt? In danger? He leaned back on his haunches and let out a wild yowl into the sky.
It seemed like hours as he waited for something to happen. Finally, he saw Professor McGonagall walking towards him. Did she know about him? Certainly Dumbledore would not have told her unless he had to. Where was Harry? "Follow me, please," said McGonagall uncertainly.
Sirius followed her at once, trailing behind her, his ears flat against his skull as he was on red alert. Even though she was walking at a brisk pace, he felt like she was practically crawling as he ached for her to move faster to reach their destination. Finally they reached the Headmaster's office. McGonagall said the password, and Sirius stepped onto the stairs, recalling the last time he had been in that position; when he had gotten into trouble for bewitching the Hogwarts portraits to speak in Mermish.
The moment McGonagall was out of sight, he morphed back into his human form. He rushed into the office, seeing Harry seated in front of the desk, and Dumbledore seated behind it. "Sirius," said Dumbledore quietly, "please have a seat."
Sirius sat, eyeing Harry with concern. His arm was bleeding and there was a nasty gash, but besides that he looked unhurt. Wait – something was wrong. Very wrong. His eyes looked crazed and wild. Harry looked as though he might faint at any moment. Had he been bewitched?
"Albus-" said Sirius, but Dumbledore interrupted.
"You will hear everything in due course, Sirius. For now, let us both sit back and hear Harry's story."
"Surely you can see that he has been through a lot, Dumbledore, he should rest," Sirius objected, his only concerns were his godson's health and comfort.
"No," said Dumbledore sternly, "Harry, if I thought I could help you by giving you a draught that would cause you sleep peacefully, I would. But what is best now is for you to tell us everything that happened tonight."
Sirius listened with horror at Harry's story. Voldemort was indeed back. His Death Eaters had returned to his side. Harry had seen James and Lily – echoes of them – emerge from Voldemort's wand and they spoke to him. Would he ever be able to see his Lily again in a similar fashion perhaps? He had to ask, "You saw James? But Albus, how is that possible-?"
"Prior Incantantem," said Dumbledore.
"The reverse-spell effect?" asked Sirius in confusion. Dumbledore nodded, and the conversation about Voldemort's return continued.
By the end of the story, Harry was positively exhausted. Sirius escorted him to the hospital wing in his Animagus form and only Ron and Hermione knew it was him. When he entered the hospital room, his heart stopped. There stood a girl whose chocolate brown eyes had been haunting his dreams for the past two decades. This girl must be the woman Harry Potter would marry.
She had fiery red hair, which deeply amused Sirius; Potter's and their red-heads. She seemed sincerely concerned about Harry. She sat beside his bed and watched him with tears leaking out of her eyes. A woman who must be her mother also stood there, talking about Harry as if she were his mother as well. Sirius realized with a jolt that these people loved Harry very much.
They were, in a sense, his family. Sirius was happy for his godson, and for Luna, who would be born into such a loving family. He couldn't take his eyes off of the girl, who everyone was calling Ginny. She looked so much like her daughter; except for the hair color.
When Dumbledore requested that Sirius show his true form, Mrs. Weasley gave a squeal and cried, "Sirius Black!"
"Shut up, Mum," groaned Ron, "It's okay."
Sirius smirked at Ron and turned to Dumbledore. He was forced to shake hands with Severus Snape, and at that moment they were thinking of the same thing. They had a mutual understanding; they were doing this for Lily Evans and Lily Luna potter. They might hate each other, but both of them had loved those women. Severus had been in love with Evans and loved Luna like a friend, whereas Sirius was in love with Luna and loved Evans like a friend.
Sirius retreated to his home, Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London, and he hated it there. Until the Weasley family moved in. He made it his goal to learn as much about them as possible, wanting to feel as close as he could to the woman he loved. Ron Weasley was Harry's best friend, and Sirius was happy about that. Hermione Granger showed up not long after the Weasley's, and Sirius' heart constricted painfully at her surname. That was where Lu-Lu had gotten her fake surname from.
Arthur and Molly were good people. A bit on the simple side maybe, but their hearts were in the right place. Sirius Black had always been clever. Brighter than most others, he was easily bored by most people, but he found that he enjoyed Ginny's company. She reminded him of Lily Luna and it made him happy just to be around her.
Sirius knew why Harry would fall in love with her; she was his other half. They were true soul mates. She was so witty and smart that it sometimes surprised him. She was so full of life and fire; just as his Luna had been. Just as his Luna would be. "You have your daughter's eyes," Sirius said one evening.
"What?" Ginny asked in confusion.
Sirius frowned, "I meant your mother's. You and your mother have the same eyes," he pushed himself away from the kitchen table and retreated to his room.
When Harry arrived, Sirius had never been happier to see him. Together, the newly re-formed Order of the Phoenix worked on bringing Voldemort down.
….
The day of his death started just as any other day. He very nearly strangled Kreacher to death when he discovered that, for whatever evil purpose, the foul creature had injured Buckbeak. Buckbeak the Hippogriff had been Sirius's closest companion since his escape from Hogwarts two years previously.
He'd just finished applying the bandages when he heard that is godson went to the Ministry of Magic and took off after him, commanding Kreacher to stay and tell Dumbledore where they'd gone.
The battle was one he had been craving. He wanted to avenge every death, every injury, that had been inflicted on his friends and family. Lucius Malfoy was easily swiped to the side and Sirius found himself set upon by Bellatrix. When the curse hit him his immediate response had been shock. It wasn't a killing curse. Relief rushed through him and he would have laughed if he could have because she hit him with a Stunner. He'd been merely stunned. Then he started to fall.
No! his mind screamed. He was tipping toward the Veil. The Veil through which he could hear whispers. He knew that this Veil meant death. Yet he couldn't stop his path of trajectory. As he slipped from this world to the next, all he could think was that he'd done the best he could and he hoped it was enough.
….
Remus Lupin had never in his life felt more alone than he did after Sirius's death. All of his old Hogwarts friends were gone. What was he even fighting for anymore? Sure, he had grown very fond of his new friends, and he loved Harry very much; like a brother. But part of him died along with Sirius.
Nymphadora Tonks fancied herself in love with him. Remus knew this. She hadn't been very subtle about it as she'd told him so herself more than once. If he were honest, Remus fancied her as well. He couldn't seem to stop himself from flirting with her every once in a while but that was all it could ever be – harmless flirting.
He rejected her kindly. He rejected her bluntly. Yet still she was persistent.
She was an Auror. He could not, would not, get involved with another woman as long as he lived. But ESPECIALLY not with another Auror. His Mary had been an Auror and look what had happened to her. He gritted his teeth as he thought of it and downed another shot of firewhiskey.
"It's more than the obvious, Remus," she pressed one evening as they sat together in her flat. He had taken to sleeping on her couch whenever he wasn't with his fellow werewolves.
"Excuse me?" he inquired politely as he helped himself to another glass of wine. They'd lost Dumbledore the week previously and because of her emotional outburst in the hospital wing of Hogwarts now everybody knew of her feelings for him.
"You do return my feelings. I know you do or I wouldn't be so insistent. You claim that what's stopping you is the fact that you're a werewolf. And also because you're old. You know that neither of those facts are an issue to me. So then what, for the love of Merlin, can your problem possibly be?"
The anger and resentment and frustration in her tone shocked him into saying the truth. "I lost someone, Tonks."
"We all have," she snipped curtly and Remus could tell by her tone that she was becoming bitter about him repressing his feelings for her.
"I lost a woman that I loved," he corrected her softly and Tonks froze. She had never known this. Why hadn't someone told her? Remus continued on with his story, for the first time in his life, verbalizing his relationship with Mary and her death to someone else. "She was similar to you but also different. She was an Auror and a very good one. We started dating in our seventh year at Hogwarts. She, like you, was very persistent. I suppose it's in my nature to reject any female admiration. But one day she was running around the Quidditch Pitch in her knickers and I was so jealous of all of the other boys staring at her that I practically tackled her in my attempt to cover her body from their view. There may also have been some snogging," he smiled when he said this as the warmth that he had felt in that moment so many years before was warming him still.
Remus continued when Tonks was silent, "I loved her and she loved me but even then I was working closely with Werewolves and so we never went so far as to get a house together but I imagine if things had been different we would have. She became everything to me. It was December of 1979. Just before Christmas. I came home early to surprise her with some flowers but instead I found Albus Dumbledore and Alastor Moody in her flat."
He paused here to take a ragged breath and Tonks asked quietly, "She was close to Moody?" As Tonks herself was very close to the retired Auror.
Remus nodded with a chuckle, "I think that she was his favorite pupil at the time. They told me what happened to her, though I didn't want to hear it. She followed Death Eaters into a muggle restaurant. Bellatrix and a few others were going to kill them all for sport. There were men, women, and several children inside. A total of maybe twenty people or so….she saved their lives."
Recognition and shock flashed across Tonks's features. "Mary MacDonald?"
Remus gazed at her in confusion. "Yes, that was her name. How did you know?"
Now Tonks was crying, silent tears sliding down her soft cheeks. Cheeks that Remus knew where her real ones and not a product of her Metamorphamagus powers. "Mad-Eye told us about her on our first day of Auror training. I don't think he's ever been more proud of one of his students. She's something of a hero and an example in our line of work. I never realized that you and she…"
"It was many years ago," he reminded her as he placed a scarred hand over her perfect porcelain one.
"So are you trying to tell me that you gave your heart away long ago and you're unable to give it to another?" she whispered the words when she thought of the woman who he'd been with before. Nymphadora Tonks had seen pictures of super-model like Mary MacDonald and she'd heard stories of her bravery. How could she compete with that? She was dead clumsy and when her powers were relaxed her looks were average at best.
Remus was silent for a while before answering. "No, Dora," he murmured, using the name for her that she was used to only hearing from her parents. "I am saying that I cannot afford to lose another woman that I love. If you wish for me to be with you then you must accept the fact that I will be by your side in every battle. You will never fight without me and you will always run if I tell you to. Your safety will be my priority always because…Godric help me….I cannot lose you."
That was the first night that Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks made love. The first night Remus had been with a woman in much longer than he cared to remember. The night that they eloped and became Mr. and Mrs. Remus Lupin.
….
Her pregnancy shocked them both. They'd been careful. She had talked of wanting children but not until after the war. Well after the war when there would be peaceful times. Because Nymphadora Tonks believed with every fiber of her being that peaceful times were ahead.
However, nothing would have prepared her for Remus's reaction. The way he screamed and threw their belongings against the walls of their small home. The way he insisted she move back in with her parents immediately. The way he stormed out of the house like a bat out of hell after breaking their things and yelling at her.
She waited patiently, tears rolling from her eyes, hands on her still-slim belly, for him to return. But he didn't come back that night. After two days of waiting she'd nearly given up. With trembling hands she pulled a suitcase out from under her bed and was trying to decide what to pack first when she heard his familiar footsteps enter the house.
She ran to the sitting room and stopped abruptly when she saw the bad state he was in. As if he'd been sleeping under a bridge the past two nights. "Well?" she asked boldly, hands on hips, chin jutted out.
"I apologize," his voice was hollow; dead.
"Apology accepted. But Remus…why? Why did you react so violently? I'm scared, too, but you just…you were crazed," relief surged through her that he'd returned at all. Now that he was here she needed an explanation.
"A part of my past love life I never told you," he whispered, "was that Mary was pregnant when she died. With our…with our daughter. She would have been born around the same time as Harry and sometimes when I….when I see him with Ron and Hermione I wonder if my daughter would have been one of their friends. This feels too much like history repeating itself with me and I just couldn't deal with it. But I came back," he tacked on at the end as if this made up for his leaving.
Again he had shocked her. Just when she thought she was getting to know everything about this man he pulled out something like this. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"It didn't seem pertinent before. I have never told anyone about it. The only people who ever knew were Mary, myself, James, and Lily."
"Remus…history is not repeating itself. I am not Mary and our child…our child is a boy."
Remus was crying before she was in his arms. He let himself fall apart then, sobbing in half-sorrow and half-joy because he knew that this was where he belonged. With Nymphadora and their son.
….
The last time he would ever see Edward Remus Lupin (who they called Teddy) was the day of the Battle of Hogwarts. His tuft of turquoise hair was almost like a mood ring; changing colors with his feelings and desires. Remus heard from Kingsley that the war was coming to a head so Remus quickly kissed his wife and son, said goodbye to his mother-in-law and Flooed directly to the Hogs' Head in Hogsmeade.
He was quite a skilled wizard, really, and he would have thought that if anyone killed him it would have been Fenrir Greyback. The defenders of Hogwarts were outnumbered and Remus Lupin had his hands full dueling three Death Eaters at once. Perhaps that was a duel he would have won if Antonin Dolohov hadn't been running by at that moment and took the opportunity to hit Remus's unguarded back with a well-aimed curse.
Of all his friends Remus was the only one to die without a moment's notice. One moment he was dueling and the next…he was gone. There was no warning; no preparation; no final thoughts or words. Only peace after a lifetime of war.