Many, many thanks to everyone who has favourited and followed this story! I wasn't aware there were people who would read it and was just writing it for fun. The chapter following this one will be uploaded promptly. Small editorial work was done in the previous chapters (flow, redundant words and sentences, formatting issues). The next chapter will partly take place in the past.
Until then!
Song of the Day: Blu by Ryuichi Sakamoto
The leaves fell off the trees and slowly, the corridors and pathways of Hogwarts withered in the cold. Remus didn't need her to cover class and he was up and running by Monday morning. October passed and before she knew it, November was knocking on the door.
It didn't take long before Sirius was the core of the conversation after a month of him laying low.
Eliza hated the 31st. Not for the event itself as she liked the idea of the dead coming home for a night in the year. She hated it because of all the events that happened. While for many it was All Hallow's Eve, for Eliza and many others who knew of it, it was the death anniversary of Lily and James Potter.
She wondered if Harry knew it or was left in happy bliss when it came to these things. She barely saw the boy as it was, but would listen in on the teacher's talking about him. He was good at Quidditch, just like his father though Harry was a seeker due to his small stature. He was excelling at DADA, Remus had said that with a lot of pride, and he had a knack for troublemaking. Snape sneered about Harry more often than not and called him arrogant.
"He is thirteen and lives with muggles," Eliza argued when Snape told her about a mishap in potions.
"Even muggle-borns are better than him," he would retort.
Halloween fell on a Saturday this time. That very morning, Eliza left her wizard robes behind and dressed herself in the warmest Scottish wool she could find. Just as she was about to walk out her door, a light knock sounded on the door connecting to Remus' office. Remus was wrapped in a cloak that looked a lot like an old blanket but had been patched up in places. He looked healthier, though the pallor was creeping back into his complexion as the full moon was coming in a week.
"You don't mind taking this to the Owlery?" he said tenderly and held up a letter. "I need to put in another order for class."
"Oh," Eliza took the letter. "What are you ordering... and what did you get?"
"Well, I just got a grindylow – do you want to see?"
The creature sat in a big water tank. Eliza looked at its little sleeping form.
"Nasty little thing," she looked behind at Remus. "I remember them whizzing past the Slytherin common room. Uur common room is like an aquarium, you know."
"I do remember you mentioning that," Remus grinned. He took a step forward and hissed.
"Has it been bothering you again? Was it from last time?" Eliza asked credulously as she faced him. "You should have told me. I'll get a heat pack –"
"No, no, no. Poppy would be insulted if she knew that you were giving me a heat pack," humour danced in Remus' eyes.
"Poppy or not, I could help you. Let me write my father –" Eliza cleared her throat. She had read up on werewolves and special injuries when she found out about Remus' furry monthly problem. Sadly, there wasn't much she could do back then and thus she resorted to muggle medicine. It helped somewhat. Sometimes, a little ibuprofen helped a lot better than a wizarding potion.
"There's no use in a surgery," Remus said in an amused tone. They walked up the stairs gingerly. "He is a surgeon is he not? I will be popping this hip often, but do send him my regards."
"At least let me find a way to ease the pain," Eliza begged. Remus had the tendency to not tell her what was on his mind nor when he was in pain. Even back when they were students.
"Some pains you cannot fix." Remus said awkwardly.
"It's Halloween," he started again. "Are you... going to visit them?"
Eliza nodded. "It's tradition."
He didn't look at her.
Please come with me, Eliza thought hopefully. Why else would he ask? It would be the first time she wasn't alone.
"But... you'll be at the feast tonight?"
"Yes. I'll smuggle firewhisky into the castle."
"We're adults. We don't need to smuggle alcohol anymore," Remus said amused. "But yes, let's have a drink. I won't come out to Hogsmeade. I'm a little too - well," he gestured to himself.
"Remus," Eliza scolded. But before she could say anymore, they heard Mr. Filch's yelling. Remus piqued outside of the door and spoke with someone.
Eliza was ready to take her leave when she was faced with James Potter's clone. Harry, his hair sticking out as crazy as ever, seemed hesitant to enter the classroom. Now more than ever she realized that his eyes were green.
Remus pointed out the Grindylow to Harry, which had now woken up and was baring its fangs before hiding behind some weeds.
"Oh, Professor Shafiq!" Harry exclaimed. "I hope I wasn't interupting."
"Oh no worries, Harry. I was about to take my leave actually," she shortly eyed Remus who once more did not look at her. "I think Professor Lupin here likes to lure people in with his new creatures."
What are you playing at, Lupin?
"Professor Shafiq," Remus started. "Was just telling me about the wonders of muggle medicine. I have a bad hip, you see. She was going to get me a heat pack."
"Can't you just charm something to do the same thing?" Harry asked. "I think my uncle would love something like that. He has a bad back from all of the sitting he does."
"Yes," Eliza shot Remus a nasty look which he accepted with a small grin. "You can. But you're not allowed to heat an injury for too long. It will burn the skin. I'll leave you two to it. Have fun discussing the Dark Arts," Eliza did a little salute, took the letter that Remus wanted her to send to the owlery and, as unnoticeable as she could, left the room.
It was perhaps the longest conversation she had with him that wasn't baby babbling when he was a boy.
She fled from the Owlrey and then to Hogsmeade, out of the bounds of the protection spells around Hogwarts. Then, she closed her eyes and felt the pull in her stomach as she apparated.
Godric's Hollow reminded her of a sleepy town from one of those horror movies where witches lived around the corner. It was small, consisting of a church in the middle of the village and a few houses. Normally, she'd come here by car and spend a night at the inn. Now, she had to get back by nightfall. The house that used to belong to the Potters still lay in ruins. No one had gone in since the night they died. There was a memorial statue nearby. James and Lily holding small Harry in their arms. Eliza never visited it.
Eliza walked to the cemetery, nodding at the gardener who knew her face, and to the headstone that she tended to each year. When she found the plot, she crossed her legs in front of them and sat down. With her wand in her hand, she drew a circle, creating a wreathe made up of marigolds.
"You would not believe what has happened," Eliza wrapped her arms around her legs. "Sirius has escaped Azkaban and now Remus and I are teachers at Hogwarts. Can you believe it? Leave it to Sirius to figure out the impossible..."
Sometimes, Eliza would stare at the gravestone as though it would give her the answers or talk back to her. She wished that there was a portrait of Lily and James somewhere that would take to her like they do at Hogwarts. There were rumours that the graveyard was haunted. So haunted that you were not allowed to enter the graveyard from May to September.
"I see your son," she began again. "He looks just like you James – an absolute troublemaker as well from what I hear from Professor McGonagall. I don't talk to him much, though. What am I supposed to say? Hello, I was your mother's best friend. Oh and by the way the man that is out there being hunted is your godfather and oh, I used to date him! But I'm not your godmother," Eliza sighed. "What a decision it was thinking that we'd both be married so it makes no sense to have me as the godmother officially. Not that it matters anyhow."
Eliza looked down at her hands and twisted the engagement ring on her finger. Sirius had always been too much of a rebel to marry, that was something that Eliza had felt since their times at Hogwarts. He was busy being wrapped up in the idea of saving the Wizarding World while Eliza was wrapped up in the idea of preserving what dignity there was left. Neither James nor Sirius picked up a job after leaving, opting to live on their fortunes until the war was over. Lily, who married James not long after leaving Hogwarts, had also made the Order of the Phoenix her life. There would come a time when this won't be the case, Lily had soothed Eliza one evening over her worries about all of the Marauders being in the Order. Remus had been sent away for a long period to be with the werewolves and no one would tell her anything about what was going on. There were long nights she heard from none of them while she worked long shifts at St. Mungo's, fearing that the Death Eaters would burst in any moment to come for her. When it got too much, she would go to Molly Weasley, who had just given birth to her 6th child.
"I gather you'd both be mad that I stopped talking to Remus, right? Talking is not really our thing."
When no answer came from the headstone, the hope of the two answering waning, she stood up. She cleaned the headstone with a little bit of water and cut away the overgrown weeds. Before she went she pressed two fingers to her lips and tapped the stone. She could imagine what James would be saying, oi! Just TALK. It's not that hard you know.
When she came back to Hogwarts, she promised to make things right for Harry somehow. Maybe she'll dig up some old things that she had from his parents.
When she returned, the castle was decked in various pumpkins and charmed bats. She had in fact gotten some fire whiskey on the way and stashed it away in her robes as though Mr. Filch cared about what she did in her free time.
The Halloween feast was as grand as she remembered. The ghosts did a small dance routine that involved re-enacting their deaths. She clapped softly and, gave anyone who looked her way a wave of her goblet. She filled her belly until it was stuffed. What did send a wave of dread was the dementors, but they seemed otherwise preoccupied with their lookout.
Eliza had spent the last 12 years mourning alone. But looking around the Great Hall, the look of happiness on everyone's faces, she allowed herself to sink in the thought of enjoying herself. The teachers stayed a lot longer than the students – the absolute joy of being an adult – and Eliza was just about to break out the next fire whisky and another bad story about dating when the bad news turned the otherwise good evening cold.
"D'yah have any other plans?" Hagrid asked Remus and Eliza on their way out of the hall. "I've got an inquiry to ask of yer, you see. I'm trying to create a court case for – "
A worried Professor McGonagall rushed back into the hall. She muttered something into Dumbledore's ear. Gravely, Dumbledore turned to Eliza.
"Professor Shafiq," he started. "I think your expertise is needed on the restoration of a painting."
Eliza frowned. Her mind was a little bit muddled from the drinks she had had. "Pardon?"
"I'm afraid that Sirius Black has tried to enter Gryffindor tower and, in his effort, slashed the Fat Lady."