Author's Note: Thank you so super much to Wikked and GraceMonroe for your reviews!
I don't have much to say here, other than that there's a huge lump in my throat at the thought that this is the last chapter of Part 2. Rather than slow you down, let's just get right to it.
One quick note though that this chapter modifies dialogue taken from Chapter 36 of Order of the Phoenix. I do not support J.K. Rowling's hateful, transphobic rhetoric. Trans women are women, and trans rights are human rights.
Chapter Forty-Three: Three Hours
It took three men to hold Remus back.
As Mairead collapsed to the ground, several things happened in rapid succession.
First, Sirius suddenly found himself without a dueling partner, as Bellatrix broke away from him and took off after Mairead, covering her own flight with a shower of spells over her shoulder.
Second, Albus Dumbledore appeared in a doorway at the top of the room, looking mighty and terrible.
Third, when Bellatrix and another, still-masked Death Eater reached Mairead's body, Bellatrix sent an array of curses firing in all directions, effectively covering the other Death Eater, who scooped Mairead's limp form up into his arms.
Fourth, Sirius felt his heart tear completely in two when his only remaining childhood friend let out a cry the likes of which Sirius had never, in all the years he had known him, heard from him before.
"NOOO!"
Jets of green light flew past Remus in near misses as he hurtled down the steps towards Mairead. Sirius and Kingsley each grabbed one of Remus's arms. Remus howled and fought, twisting and thrashing like a wild animal.
"MAIREAD! LET ME GO - MAIREAD!"
Despite Sirius and Kingsley's best efforts, Remus got the better of them and had broken free when Mad-Eye Moody, who had returned to consciousness, threw himself across Remus's path. Sirius and Kingsley lunged forward to help again. Together, the three men were just able to subdue the maddened werewolf.
"Stop," Mad-Eye said, placing a hand firmly on each of Remus's bucking shoulders. "Stop, Remus."
"GET OFF ME!" Remus screamed, bucking and flailing.
"Remus, stop," Mad-Eye repeated, his own voice cracking with emotion as he fought to contain Remus's struggling. "She's gone."
Moody was right. Dumbledore had made quick work of rounding up and incapacitating the remaining Death Eaters, but Bellatrix had successfully covered the escape of the man who had Mairead. He had Disapparated before Dumbledore could stop him.
Remus fell still and stared at the spot where Mairead had disappeared. "May," he whispered weakly. He turned away from them then, face buried in his hands.
Sirius looked away, telling himself he was giving his friend privacy. In spite of the feeling clawing at his chest that he was doing his best to ignore, Sirius still heaved a sigh of relief when he spotted his godson at the top of the stairs. Harry was staring at the bottom of the room, looking shocked and betrayed. Sirius wanted to go to him, but before he could, a spell hit Kingsley and the Auror collapsed to the ground, hollering in pain.
Sirius whipped around and saw Bellatrix making a break for it. Both he and Dumbledore shot spells at the witch, but she managed to block both of them and flee the room. Sirius turned to give chase, but no sooner had he started to run than he changed directions, bolting towards his godson instead.
Because Harry had taken off after Bellatrix.
"Harry - no!" Sirius shouted, but Harry did not slow.
"SHE KILLED MAIREAD!" Harry shouted. "I'LL KILL HER!"
Sirius flew up the stairs in pursuit of Harry, but was shocked to find that he was soon overtaken by Dumbledore.
"Stay here!" the headmaster commanded in a booming voice. "Help Alastor get the others back to Hogwarts. I will protect Harry."
Sirius was of half a mind to disregard Dumbledore's order, but the older wizard stopped then and fixed him with a look of such fire and raw power that Sirius experienced the highly uncommon sensation of being cowed. "Don't let anything happen to him," he pleaded.
"I will protect him with every ounce of my abilities," Dumbledore vowed.
And then he was gone through the same door from which he had entered.
Sirius turned around and headed back down the steps. Kingsley had recovered from his bout of torture at the hands of Sirius's cousin and was standing guard over the Death Eaters, whom Dumbledore had left in a heap at the foot of the dais in the middle of the room. Mad-Eye was attempting to revive Tonks.
Remus was on his knees.
"Moony." Sirius's voice came out rough, and he cleared his throat, ignoring the tightness he could feel. Remus looked up. His eyes were dry, but they now had a desolate look in them that had Sirius averting his gaze.
"Let's - let's find the others," Remus said, rising slowly to his feet. "There were four injured students in the room we came through." The expression on his face was one of unspeakable pain. Sirius felt something rising in him and blinked hard.
"Yeah," he said. "Plus there were those three Death Eaters we found in the Time Room."
He and Remus split up. Remus went to the aid of the teenagers while Sirius rounded up the three unconscious Death Eaters. He cast another Stunning Spell on each of them, just to be safe - and also because he felt like killing them all and thought this was the most reasonable step down from that. When he saw the Death Eater with the baby's head, still slumbering peacefully where Mairead had left him, he quite suddenly had to look away and bite down on the inside of his cheek before he could continue.
Sirius returned to the room where the other Order members were and handed the Death Eaters off to Kingsley, who bound them to their fellows and cast an Anti-Disapparition Jinx on the lot of them.
"I can't wake Tonks," growled Moody, stumping over to them. He was limping more heavily than usual and it was only now that Sirius noticed he was missing his prosthetic eye. "She's going to need to be moved as she is."
Remus rejoined them then. Two stretchers were floating in the air in front of him, bearing Ron and Hermione, who were both unconscious. Two teenagers whose names Sirius did not know - the boy who had been fighting alongside Harry and a girl with blonde hair and enormous blue eyes - followed behind. Remus had his left arm around Ginny, who was leaning heavily on him, her facial expression set with pain but stoic.
Much like the look on Remus's face.
"Right," said Moody when everyone was there. "We need to get this lot back to Hogwarts. Sirius, Remus, I think the two of you had better go. Kingsley and I will stay here and guard this scum."
"I'm not going," said Sirius at once. "Not while Harry's still here."
"Harry is with Dumbledore," said Kingsley. "And you still have a bounty on your head."
"I don't give a shit!" said Sirius hotly. "I leave when Harry leaves."
"Black." Moody shuffled away from the group and indicated with a jerk of his head that Sirius should follow. Sirius ground his teeth with defiance but stepped away with the Auror.
"What?" he demanded impatiently. Moody lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Lupin has already lost the most important person in the world to him tonight," said Mad-Eye. "Are you really gonna stand there and tell me you don't give a shit if he loses another?"
Sirius's retort died on his lips.
"Potter's with Dumbledore," Moody continued. "He'll be fine. Lupin'll be less so if you go and get yourself killed by an Auror or tossed back into Azkaban with this lot."
Sirius felt a deep, burning resentment for the way his heart quailed at the thought of being sent back to Azkaban. He would far rather be killed on sight. But worse than both of those prospects was that of causing Remus even more pain than he was already suffering. "Fine," he said shortly.
Remus saw the look of resignation on Sirius's face as he and Moody reapproached the group. "Gather 'round, everyone," he called. "Sirius and I are going to Apparate you back to Hogwarts. Has anyone here ever done Side-Along Apparition?" All three of the conscious teenagers nodded. "Good. So, either grab hold of Sirius or me."
Sirius stepped forward and placed a hand on Ron's foot while Moody moved Tonks to a third stretcher. "I'll take Ron and Tonks, you take Hermione?" he suggested. Remus nodded.
The round-faced boy seemed reluctant to travel with Sirius (I wonder why, he thought sardonically), and Ginny was beginning to sag against Remus's side, clinging more heavily to his shoulder than ever, but the blonde girl did not appear perturbed in the slightest by Sirius's presence, and readily stepped up and wrapped her fingers around his forearm.
"Hello, Stubby," she said in a dreamy sort of voice.
"Come again?"
"All right, let's go!" Remus called. He looked over at Sirius. "I'll meet you at the gates."
Sirius saw Remus take one more look at the last spot where he had seen Mairead. Sirius gritted his teeth, place a hand on Ron and Tonks, and turned on the spot.
All things considered, Sirius thought Madam Pomfrey took it rather well when a group of students walked in with an ex-professor and a convicted mass-murderer. While she had gasped and let out a little scream at the sight of Sirius, Remus had quickly smoothed things over, telling the nurse that Dumbledore had sent them and bringing her attention to the fact that six patients had just entered the room. She rallied quite immediately after that, directing the students and Tonks into various beds and triaging their treatment.
Still, given the look of white-faced shock on the nurse's face when she saw him, Sirius thought it for the best that they had arrived well before the general population would awaken.
Madam Pomfrey pressed both men for information about what had happened, but it was the blonde girl, whose name, Sirius learned, was Luna, who was able to provide a more complete account of what had happened in the Department of Mysteries that night.
The sky was beginning to lighten when Dumbledore walked into the hospital wing. He listened in respectful silence as Madam Pomfrey gave him an update on the students' conditions.
"Miss Tonks, on the other hand, may have to be transferred to St. Mungo's," Madam Pomfrey concluded. Dumbledore inclined his head.
"Please do whatever you think is best, Poppy," he said. "Thank you for all of your efforts these past few days." Dumbledore turned and regarded Sirius and Remus then, who had both been standing off to one side. "I should like the two of you to return to headquarters now, if you would be so kind," he said. "I have called a meeting for anyone who is able to attend."
Sirius nodded and turned to go.
"And, Sirius?"
Sirius looked back over his shoulder at Dumbledore.
"Please instruct Kreacher to wait in the attic until the meeting is over," said Dumbledore. "He is not to listen in on any other Order meetings. I will explain why later."
Sirius frowned, but nodded again and continued towards the door. He had thought Remus would be right behind him, but when he neared the exit, he noticed that Remus had paused by an empty bed and was staring at it, eyes burning. "Moony?"
Remus blinked and looked up. "Coming, Sirius," he said.
If he were to think back on it, Remus would not have been able to explain how he managed to get himself back to London from Hogwarts. As when they had traveled from the Ministry to Hogwarts, he and Sirius broke the Apparition journey up across several stops. Apparition required intense focus, concentration, and an awareness of one's surroundings, none of which Remus felt able to muster up.
Everything felt numb. Remus felt hollow and empty, like if someone bumped into him, he would just crumple along the line of impact and collapse into nothingness. Perhaps that was how he had managed to Apparate - because his body already felt like nothing, and so there was nothing to transport except shock and grief and pain.
He and Sirius had not coordinated what stops they would make along the way, and so they did not see one another again until their feet landed on the ground in front of number twelve. They walked up the stairs side-by-side. Remus could see Sirius stealing sidelong glances at him, but did not look over. It was all he could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Once back inside, they headed for the kitchen to await the other Order members. Remus stood back to let Sirius go down the stairs first. Sirius opened the door, walked into the kitchen, and then stopped in his tracks, as though he had just walked into a brick wall. Remus descended the final few steps and saw what Sirius was staring at.
Their dinner things were still on the table; the remains of the pasta dish Sirius had made were still sitting on the stove. Remus blinked a few times. It seemed impossible that it had only been a few hours since they had eaten together. Remus's eyes went to the place where Mairead had sat. He saw how clean her plate looked, and recalled how, earlier that evening, she had wiped the dish with a slice of bread.
Her fork and spoon were neatly criss-crossed on top of one another on the plate, and this was suddenly the worst thing Remus had ever had to look at in his entire life. He strode over to the table, seized Mairead's plate, brought it over to the basin, and set it down hard inside. He leaned on the counter for a few moments, hands clenching and unclenching around the edge of the countertop. Then, he turned back to the table and continued determinedly clearing it.
Sirius seemed to know better than to offer to help, and so walked into the boiler room, where Remus could overhear him ordering Kreacher to the attic.
Other people began to arrive. First was Elphias, followed shortly after by Dedalus, Arthur, and Molly. Hestia and Emmeline were next. Kingsley and Mad-Eye returned to headquarters shortly before Bill, Fleur, and Charlie walked in together. Remus noticed curious glances coming his way. He must have been making a strange face, and worked to clear his expression. He could not, however, bring himself to have a seat at the table. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Sirius had also chosen to remain standing, and was leaning against the basin and staring at the ground, arms folded.
"Right," said Moody when Mundungus, the last of the group, had arrived. He, too, remained on his feet, though he leaned heavily on his walking stick. "There's no point beating around the bush, so I'll just get right to it. Last night, Voldemort lured Potter and a group of his friends to the Department of Mysteries."
A collective gasp of horror went up around the table. Remus closed his eyes. He was not sure whether he could bear to hear the story recounted.
"Ron!" Molly gasped, one of her hands gripping Arthur's tightly on the table. "Harry! Were they -"
"They lived," Moody interrupted her. "Lupin and Black escorted them back to Hogwarts. Status update, Sirius?"
"Ron and Ginny are in the hospital wing, but Madam Pomfrey says they're going to be fine," said Sirius, looking up from the ground. "Hermione's there too, along with two other students who went with them."
"Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood," Remus supplied softly.
"That was Longbottom?" Moody asked, looking interested. "Huh. Didn't know that. Anyway - from what Dumbledore and I were able to gather, Voldemort used Legilimency to trick Potter into going to the Hall of Prophecies. Once there, they-"
"How the hell did they get from Hogwarts to London?" Bill interjected.
"Thestrals, from the look of things," answered Kingsley. "There were six of them eating out of a dumpster when I left."
"Thestrals?" Charlie repeated, eyebrows raised. "How did they see them?"
Without warning, anger blasted through Remus. "We don't really have time to get into that right now," he said. He hadn't intended it to come out harshly, but Charlie looked taken aback at the admonishment.
"He's right," Moody agreed. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us. Let me just get through this. Death Eaters were waiting for them. They ambushed them, and from the looks of things, chased them across half the Department of Mysteries. Snape somehow figured out this was happening and alerted headquarters. Black, Lupin, Tonks, Shacklebolt, O'Keefe, and I went to the Ministry as soon as we found out what was going on. Dumbledore showed up shortly after that. We were able to capture all the Death Eaters there but three: one unidentified Death Eater escaped, as did Walden Macnair and Bellatrix Lestrange. Lestrange was helped by Voldemort, who showed up when Potter gave chase after Lestrange, who ran for it."
Remus looked up sharply. He had not heard about this.
"What!" Elphias stared at Moody in shock. "You-Know-Who, at the Ministry?! But - how? I - I never thought -"
"Yeah," Moody cut him off. "According to Dumbledore, Voldemort possessed Potter. The leading theory is that he thought Dumbledore might murder Potter in an attempt to defeat him."
Remus saw that Sirius's face had drained of color. Molly whimpered again.
"Obviously, Dumbledore didn't fall for it. Voldemort fled, but he managed to take Lestrange with him," Moody went on. "Fudge showed up then, with every Auror in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Sounds like he's going to be changing his tune."
"Where are the Death Eaters now?" Remus spoke up.
"Awaiting transportation to Azkaban," answered Kingsley. "They're being held at the Ministry."
"Where?"
"The Wizengamot have several holding cells."
Remus nodded. "The Wizengamot is on level...?"
Kingsley's brows contracted slightly. "Ten. Why?"
Remus shrugged and shook his head. "No reason."
There was a brief pause, then Charlie asked, "Is that where Tonks is now? At the Ministry with Fudge?"
"No," said Moody. "Tonks was injured. She's being sent to St. Mungo's."
Remus saw Molly look around the room, realization dawning on her face now that she was not beside herself with worry over her children. "And Mairead?" she asked.
Moody looked down. He scratched the good side of his nose. "Mairead fell in battle."
Remus clenched his hands into fists and stared, unseeing, at the wall opposite him as all around him, he heard gasps and cries of disbelief. He gritted his teeth together in the effort it took to prevent the tempest howling inside him from undoing him.
"No!" Molly cried.
For a moment, it seemed as though Moody was having trouble speaking. His voice was gruffer and deeper than usual when he was able to continue. "Mairead sacrificed herself to allow Potter and Longbottom to escape. She created a diversion and drew the Death Eaters' fire. An unknown Death Eater then captured her and Disapparated with her."
A shocked silence followed Moody's words. Eventually, Emmeline asked, "What was the diversion?"
Kingsley looked sideways at Moody, then answered for him. "She pretended she had the prophecy."
"She didn't really have it?" Sirius asked, looking up.
"No," said Kingsley. "It turns out she had Mad-Eye's eye. It fell from her hand when..." He trailed off, then said, "I found it on the ground, along with her wand."
Remus could feel himself shaking. He tried to take deep breaths but felt as though Buckbeak were sitting on his chest.
"So... if Mairead didn't have the prophecy," said Elphias slowly, "who does?"
"Potter, presumably," said Moody.
"He had it last I checked," Sirius spoke up hoarsely.
"Good," said Moody. Then, standing up somewhat straighter, he said, "Look, I know this is upsetting news, but we've got to set that aside for now. We have a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in. Mairead fell -" Moody checked the clock on the wall. "- an hour ago. That means we've only got two hours to get ahead of this. The good news is, a lot of the work already got done when Mairead went into hiding. So what we need to do now is to compile a complete list of everything Mairead knew - every scrap of knowledge she had about the Order - and find a way to neutralize it all. Remus, I'd like you to -"
"No."
Moody broke off and looked over at Remus, waiting for him to explain himself.
"I'm sorry, Alastor," Remus said in a carefully controlled tone. "I - I need to leave. I... I can't..."
"Of course, dear," Molly said thickly.
Moody frowned. "I was counting on your help," he said.
Remus felt his expression grow fretful. "I'm sorry," he repeated, looking down at the ground. "I can't be here. I need..."
Remus didn't need to look up to know he had everyone in the room by the nose. Everyone, that was, except the man who had known him the longest.
"Where are you going?" Sirius asked, suspicion evident in his tone.
Remus avoided Sirius's eye when he said, "I'm not sure." It wasn't a complete lie. He didn't know where he would end up, at least. It didn't matter, though. Sirius saw through it.
"What are you planning?" he pressed, then, "Why did you want to know where the Death Eaters were being kept?"
Remus looked up then and met Sirius's eye across the room. He didn't have to say anything out loud. Sirius knew what was going on. He expected Sirius to be on his side. When Remus saw anger spark to life in his friend's face, he assumed it was because he had planned to leave Sirius out.
Which was why Remus was caught off-guard when Sirius said, "Are you out of your mind?"
"What's going on?" asked Hestia, looking back and forth between the two.
"He's planning a rescue attempt," said Sirius.
There was a painfully awkward silence. Moody sighed. "You know that's not how this works," he said. He really did sound regretful, but that only served to breathe fire on Remus's anger. Moody was supposed to care about Mairead. He was always going on about how highly he thought of her. Apparently, though, he did not think highly enough of her to want to raise a finger to help her when her life was hanging in the balance. "We can't extract her at this point. It's too late."
Remus regarded the grizzled old Auror calmly. "I didn't ask for your help," he said coolly. "Nor did I ask for your permission."
"This is suicide!" Sirius barked. "There's no hope! You're just going to get yourself killed!"
"Black's right," Moody agreed. "Once someone's been taken to a secondary location, the chances of -"
"Don't quote statistics at me, Moody!" Remus snapped. "We don't have time for this!"
"We don't have time to bicker about what we should be doing right now, either," Doge stepped in. "You know the rules, Remus. When someone falls in battle, we've got three hours to perform damage control. We're wasting time."
"Mairead isn't dead!" Remus argued. "She was hit by a Stunner! She's been kidnapped."
"That is precisely my point," Doge went on. "She is not dead. She was captured. In all likelihood she is being interrogated at this very moment. I hate to say it, but in many ways it would have been better had she -"
"I strongly advise you not to finish that sentence." Remus's voice was a low growl. Doge faltered, his eyes widening slightly. Before tonight, Remus never would have dreamed of letting the wolf poke its head out of his human shell in front of the Order, but right now, he couldn't care less what anyone thought of him. It would not matter for much longer anyway.
He would be with Mairead, one way or another.
"Remus," Emmeline spoke up then. "I know how you feel. Believe me, I do. But rescuing her just isn't possible. You know that."
"Oh, come off it, Emmeline!" Remus snapped harshly. "Don't sit there and pretend you care what happens to Mairead! You were against her membership this whole time. You're probably happy she was taken. She's right where you want her, isn't she?"
Emmeline's eyes flashed. "I never said that!" she said hotly. "This is how it is, Remus. I didn't see you throwing a fit when Benji went missing. You didn't want to go storming any castles then!"
"Both of you, STOP!" Sirius hollered.
Remus turned to his best friend, then, hopeful he was finally about to get an ally, that Sirius had come around to his way of thinking. But what he saw in Sirius's blue eyes made this hope flicker out. Sirius didn't have to say a word for him to see what side of this he fell on. "You must be joking," Remus said breathlessly.
Sirius bowed his head, but did not budge. "Moony, they're right," he said. He sounded as though speaking were painful, but he pushed forward nevertheless. "You can't get her back. It's too late."
Remus mouthed wordlessly for a moment before firmly saying, "I still have two hours."
Sirius regarded him sadly. "And what exactly do you have any hope of accomplishing in those two hours? We have no idea where she's been taken. We don't even know who took her. You're going to burn through that time before you know it and it'll be too late to do anything useful for her."
"There are a dozen Death Eaters in custody right now!" Remus argued. "I'll ask one of them where she went!"
Sirius tipped his head slightly to one side. "Come on, Remus, you know that's not going to work," he said, impatience starting to creep into his tone. "Why the hell would they tell us anything? Capturing Mairead was their one victory tonight. Even if we offered them a commuted sentence, they're not going to bite; not when getting out of Azkaban earlier just means facing Voldemort that much sooner after betraying the location of his prisoner!"
"Then I'll find another way to get them to talk," Remus growled, knowing his meaning would be evident to Sirius.
"Listen to yourself!" said Sirius. "You're talking about torture. Mairead wouldn't want this. She wouldn't want you to stoop to their level just to -"
"DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT WHAT MAIREAD WOULD WANT!" Remus exploded, all semblance of self-control gone as desperation and terror screamed inside him. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! NONE OF YOU HAS ANY RIGHT -"
"You need to stand down!" said Sirius.
"WHY SHOULD I?!"
"BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO LOVED HER, REMUS!"
Remus fell back a step. His ears rang in the silence.
"You think you're the only one who cares? Look around you!" Sirius's voice broke. His expression wavered, then crumpled. "Fuck."
Sirius turned his back to the room, one hand clutching the edge of the basin, the other hiding his face.
Remus stared at his best friend's back. Sirius's shoulders heaved and shook. Then, as Sirius had directed, Remus looked around the room.
Moody's head was bowed over his walking stick, his mouth and nose twitching. Hestia's eyes were bright, and her lips trembled. Molly was crying into her hands. Arthur had his arm around her and was looking up at the ceiling, his glasses fogged. Bill's face was deeply troubled as he held Fleur, who was weeping quietly into his chest. Even Elphias was looking subdued and solemn.
Sirius sagged against the basin. He was not the type to cry in public, and was clearly doing his best to be subtle about it, but Remus could hear him sobbing.
A chair scraped. Sirius looked around at the touch of a hand on his back. He blinked in surprise and confusion at Molly Weasley. Tears were streaming down her own face as she offered comfort to the man she had butted heads with since the moment they had met. Molly held out her arms. Sirius hesitated only for a moment before falling into them. Sirius, who for so long had held nothing but contempt for mother figures, clung to the Weasley matriarch, and the two cried in each other's arms.
Remus looked away then, his own pain racking his body. The wolf howled in his ears, a lonely, desolate, heartbroken sound.
For once, Remus agreed with him entirely.
Moody limped over until he was standing next to Remus. "Mairead was one of the finest people I have ever had the honor of knowing," he said, his voice uncharacteristically gentle and quiet. "She was brave and she was selfless, and she never once lost sight of what we were fighting for." Moody leaned hard on his walking stick and continued. "But more than that, she understood that it's not just why we fight that matters, but how we fight. I know you knew her better than any of us, but I knew her pretty damn well, too. And if she got rescued from torture and torment, only to find out that we had used torture and torment to get her back, she would never forgive us. And she'd be right not to."
Moody fixed both eyes steadily on Remus as he continued. "Lupin, she loved you with everything she had, and that is really saying something. She wouldn't want you to sell your humanity in exchange for her life. And I know you know that."
Remus squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head. Moody went on.
"Mairead fell tonight fighting for what she believed in. She sacrificed herself not only to protect others, but because she believed in her soul in what we're fighting for. I think the best way to honor her memory is to honor her wishes. And the best way to honor her sacrifice is to make sure that it means something." He addressed the room as a whole now.
"Now, we asked the same thing of Mairead that has been asked of all of us: for three hours. If I know anything about Mairead, she is gonna tough it out for every last second of those three hours. We owe it to her to do the same. We can't save her life. But we can ease her passing by making it as easy as we can for her to let go when her time's up."
Moody reached out and put a hand on Remus's shoulder. Remus felt a tear slip out and make its escape down his face. "Are you with me, son?" Moody asked.
Remus sucked in an agonizing breath, opened his eyes, and nodded.
Moody nodded his approval. "Then let's get started."
"Thank you all for joining me here," said Dumbledore, taking his seat at the head of the table and greeting the Order in his customary fashion. "As I am sure you are all aware, we have much to discuss, and I am afraid that I am limited in the time I can spend away from Hogwarts at the moment, so I must beg you to forgive the lack of formalities."
"Having you back at the helm is all the formality we need," said Elphias.
"Here, here!" boomed Hagrid, raising his tankard of mead.
Dumbledore bowed his head in acknowledgment. "Thank you, very much, indeed," he said. "Well, then let us begin. The Daily Prophet will break the story in tomorrow's paper of Lord Voldemort's return to power."
Remus saw several people flinch at Voldemort's name. His hand automatically twitched to comfort Mairead. He closed his fingers into fists.
"Kingsley," Dumbledore said. "If you would be so kind as to give us an update on the captured Death Eaters."
Kingsley nodded and cleared his throat. "Ten Death Eaters were apprehended," he began. "They include six of the eleven Death Eaters who broke out of Azkaban in January. Namely, Rudolphus and Rebastian Lestrange, Dolohov, Jugson, Rookwood, and Mulciber. But we also captured four men who escaped Azkaban in the first war: Malfoy, Nott, Crabbe, and Avery. They have all been sent to Azkaban."
"Well, we already knew they were Death Eaters," Moody spoke up. "Captured them the first go 'round. Maybe catching them red-handed will make the convictions stick this time."
"I doubt it," said Kingsley grimly. "With the dementors no longer guarding Azkaban, I think it's only a matter of time before they are at large again."
"So... no one else has been found, then?" Dedalus spoke up hopefully. Kingsley shook his head.
"I'm afraid not," he said heavily. "We know that Bellatrix was there; we all saw her. But Harry and Dumbledore both witnessed Voldemort Disapparate with her from the Ministry. And several people reported seeing Macnair Disapparate after sustaining an injury to his eye." He hesitated, then added, "And another Death Eater escaped, as well. His mask was on the entire time, so we can't be sure who it was, but..." he trailed off.
"Thank you, Kingsley," said Dumbledore after a brief silence. "While it is certainly preferable that the Ministry have acknowledged the return of Voldemort, I think we must all prepare ourselves for circumstances to get far worse."
"Now that his secret's been blown, there's no reason for him to stick to the shadows anymore," Moody growled.
"Indeed," Dumbledore agreed. "It seems to be with this in mind that Cornelius is preparing a series of informational pamphlets on how the wizarding population at large can defend itself against dark magic."
"Fat lot of good that'll do," said Charlie sourly. "If they hadn't left You-Know-Who an entire year to gather strength, they might not have been in this position in the first place."
"We can only hope that society will be more prepared to protect itself than it was last time," said Dumbledore. "With that being said, I think it would be prudent to provide extra security around the perimeter of Hogwarts when the next school year begins." So many Order members volunteered to help at once that it became impossible to tell who said what. Dumbledore smiled. "Thank you all," he said.
"I'll compile a list of volunteers and get them to you," Moody offered.
"Thank you, Alastor."
"Make sure my name's at the top," Sirius told Moody.
"Ready to come off the bench, are you, Sirius?" Bill asked with a grin.
"Hell, yes," said Sirius. "How's that coming along, by the way, Doge?"
"Slowly, as with anything," Doge replied. "The Wizengamot are meeting next Tuesday to vote on an official pardon."
Sirius rolled his eyes at Remus, who managed a smile at his friend's readiness to come out of hiding.
"Elphias and I will both provide testimony in your favor, Sirius," said Dumbledore.
"And now that you've been reinstated on the Wizengamot, your testimony won't actually work against Black," added Doge, sounding cranky but satisfied.
"That is excellent news!" said Molly. "Congratulations, Headmaster."
Dumbledore bowed his head graciously. "Thank you, Molly," he said. "I have some other good news to share, as well. Both Minerva and Tonks have been given a clean bill of health and will be discharged from St. Mungo's tomorrow."
A cheer briefly went around the table, but faded rather quickly. Remus couldn't help but notice the way Charlie leaned forward in his seat at this news of Tonks, as though readying himself to spring to his feet at any moment to meet Tonks at the door. He felt a small, sad smile tug at his lips.
"Has... has there been any other good news, Albus?" Professor Sprout asked, her tone hesitant but meaningful.
The light in Dumbledore's periwinkle eyes seemed to dim somewhat. "I am afraid not, Pomona," he said sorrowfully. Remus braced himself. He had a feeling that Dumbledore was about to announce what he had pulled Remus aside to tell him before the meeting began. "It pains me greatly to tell you all that at this point, Mairead O'Keefe is presumed dead."
Remus rallied all of his strength to keep his facial expression placid. Beside him, he saw Sirius glowering down at the table. When Dumbledore had explained to Remus and Sirius that Kreacher had been passing information along to Narcissa Malfoy, Sirius had been overcome with rage. He had woken all the portraits in the entrance hall, and roared that he would hang Kreacher's head on the wall himself. Only Dumbledore himself had been able to subdue Sirius. It was unclear as of yet what would be done about the treacherous house-elf. Dumbledore would not allow him to be killed, but nor would he allow him to leave Grimmauld Place, owing to the dangerous amount of information he had about the Order. Kreacher had been confined to the attic ever since, and with Sirius refusing to interact with the house-elf at all, it had fallen on Remus to make sure that Kreacher did not starve to death.
Remus was brought out of his reverie by the touch of a hand on the back of his own. He looked around and saw Fleur reaching across Bill to comfort him. Remus managed to smile at her.
"There has been some talk about posthumously awarding Mairead with an Order of Merlin, First Class," Dumbledore went on. "But I believe I have talked Cornelius out of it."
"Why the hell would you do that, Dumbledore?" demanded Doge. "I'm the one who put her up for it! Had a job of it, too. Fudge didn't like the idea of awarding a Squib an Order of Merlin, particularly an O'Keefe. Said he was worried about how it would look."
"Typical Fudge, on'y thinkin' 'bout his own political status," grumbled Hagrid.
"He kept trying to negotiate me down to Third Class, which doesn't even make sense," Doge added. "As I say, why would you talk him out of it?"
"Because Mairead wouldn't have liked it."
Everyone turned and looked as Remus spoke for the first time that evening.
"Mairead hated to be the center of attention," he went on. "She wouldn't have wanted an award like this."
"I felt so, too," said Dumbledore. "I am glad to see you agree, Remus."
"So - so nothing is going to be done to honor what she did?" Charlie asked. "That doesn't seem right. Something should be done for her."
"We're doing it right now, Charlie," said Remus quietly. "We're continuing to fight for what she believed in. That's all she would have wanted."
"This is far from over," Sirius spoke up suddenly. His blue eyes burned fiercely. "This is just getting started. We're going to keep fighting, and we're going to fight the way Mairead did. With honesty and integrity and grit."
Dumbledore reached for his wineglass and lifted it in the air. "To Mairead O'Keefe," he said.
Sirius raised his glass. "To fighting like a Gryffindor," he said.
"No," corrected Remus. "To fighting like a Hufflepuff."
Everyone raised their glasses. "To fighting like a Hufflepuff," they chorused.
They drank.
End of Part 2
Author's Note: Wow! That is a wrap on Part 2! I cannot thank all of you enough for reading and commenting and being such a supportive community!
As I have mentioned before, there will be a wait before Part 3 comes out. I prefer to wait until the story is completely written before posting any of it, and I still have miles to go on it! Please know that I work on it a little bit every day, and I always welcome check-ins on where I'm at! I hope you won't mind the wait too, too much, and I look forward to sharing the final installment of Reflecting Light when it is finished! So much love to all of you!
Song for this chapter: "Bigger than the Whole Sky," by Taylor Swift (Remus)