Chapter 63

Questions and Answers

Note from J.M. Jackson: So, again, I'm here apologising for the delay, thanks to RL, depression, anxiety and a number of other issues. I'm publishing two chapters today, and going forward, I will aim for one a week, but will promise every two weeks at a minimum. These chapters will lead to questions for our heroes, and hopefully some exciting moments for you all to read.

As Lily felt herself land, she was immediately pulled into a firm hug by Sirius, who held her tightly. "Thank god you're okay," Sirius whispered. Lily knew that meant Phineas had told Sirius what had happened.

"I'm fine, Uncle Sirius," Lily insisted, her voice low. Sirius loosened his grip slightly, allowing Lily a chance to see him. His face was pale, which meant he was worried.

"What the hell were you thinking, Lily? That… you… anything could have happened!" Sirius exclaimed.

"I had to try something," Lily insisted. "It's a good thing I did."

"Yes, but you…" Sirius was struggling with his words, something Lily had never known to happen.

"What happened?" Ron insisted. Lily took a breath and explained everything to the group. They looked at Lily, and Ginny, with a mix of concern and confusion.

"You did… you… what?" Ron was struggling as well.

"Mum… does mum know?" George asked.

"Dumbledore's probably letting her know now, but we needed to get you away from Hogwarts before Umbridge or anyone else could interfere," Sirius explained.

"We need to get to St. Mungo's," Fred insisted.

"Not yet. I know why you want to, but you can't go there, not without raising questions about how you know what happened," Sirius said.

"I don't care, that's our dad!" Ron insisted.

"And Lily's your friend! If the ministry investigates, what do you think will happen to Lily if they find out what happened? They'll take her away from all of us, and if White is a Death Eater, they'll give her straight to Voldemort!" Sirius insisted firmly. That was enough to make the group freeze and stop their protests.

"Dad… he has to be okay…" Ron managed weakly.

"He will be, I'm sure. He was found quickly, thanks to Lily," Sirius replied, looking at them. "Come on, let's go and have a drink or something," he added, leading the group to the main lounge area, where Remus was already waiting. Kreacher was there, skulking, and muttering insults, so Sirius told him to get out, to which he bowed and left the room. "I'm trying to be nicer to him, I really am, but it's so damned hard sometimes," Sirius said.

"Lily, we want to know more," Ron said, as Sirius fetched bottles of Butterbeer. Lily nodded and related the whole tale to the group. It was several moments before someone spoke.

"You were trying to read You-Know-Who's mind?" Fred asked.

"Why? Are you insane?" George added.

"She did it because I asked for her help," Ginny confessed, looking at the table. The room fell silent at that and remained that way before Remus spoke up.

"Ginny, why were you trying to do that?" Remus asked kindly. Ginny took a sip of her drink, and looked at the others, all of whom were almost studying her.

"He… when he possessed me… I still have nightmares, and I wanted to… I wanted to do the same to him. I was… I was just so angry, and I wanted to prove that I wasn't as weak as he thought I was!" Ginny exclaimed.

"Ginny, you are not weak," Sirius said firmly. "You are stronger than you realise, but you can't do things like this. It's extremely dangerous."

"Maybe, but I wanted to do something. I… I had to do something," Ginny replied.

"Ginny, you need to be smarter than this. I understand the desire for revenge; there isn't a day that goes by where I don't think of one of the friends Sirius and I lost when we were younger, including Lily's parents, but we have to think about what we're doing. What if something had gone wrong, and Voldemort took control of you? He could use you to kill anyone, including Lily, your brothers, or your parents. How would you feel if that happened?" Remus asked.

Ginny, for her part, looked distraught; Lily knew she had considered it, but to hear it all laid out like that… it horrified even Lily, just thinking of it.

"Lily, the same goes for you. Yes, you helped save Arthur, but what if you'd been stuck in the snake?" Sirius asked.

"I think… I think there was a part of the snake that helped me leave," Lily said. "It's… okay, this is going to sound insane, but I could almost hear someone else in there, someone screaming to be released."

"You're right, that does sound insane," Sirius replied. "It was probably your own mind, trying to get out. What you did… that's not only dangerous, but it's also stupid. I thought I raised you better than that."

Lily looked down at the ground, feeling her heart sinking. If Sirius had shouted at her, that would have been one thing, but the words he had used… that was worse than any punishment Sirius could have given her.

"What happens now?" Ron asked.

"Now? We wait for news, then as soon as we can, we'll go and visit your father," Sirius replied. "We'll also do some Christmas shopping, and other things, get the house ready. I know this isn't exactly the ideal way to be spending Christmas, but we're glad you're here with us."

"Thanks, Sirius," Fred said, his usually cheery voice numb.

"Appreciate it," George agreed. "I just… we…"

Whatever George was about to say ended as there was a flash of fire, with a letter appearing, attached to a single phoenix tail feather. Sirius took the letter, and opened it, reading it aloud.

"Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are, I will send news as soon as I can. Mum," Sirius read.

"Still… still alive?" Ron asked.

"He'll be okay, Ron," Remus said kindly. "Now, how about we finish our drinks, and you all get some sleep? It'll help with your nerves."

"Not sure we can sleep, Remus," Ron said, but he was clearly fighting back a yawn.

"Go and sleep. The second we get any word, we'll wake you up, I promise," Sirius said. Ron looked at the others, then nodded. He silently left the room and headed up the stairs, with Fred and George following.

With Lily and Ginny left, Sirius and Remus looked at them. "I want you both to swear to me that you'll never do anything like this again," Sirius said firmly. "I've almost lost you several times now Lily, and I feel like I'm failing your parents. I swore I'd protect you if anything happened to them, but you're making it bloody difficult."

"Uncle Sirius, I…" Lily started, but stopped, tears welling up in her eyes as she considered everything. He was right, of course. Yes, she had helped save Arthur, but what if things had gone wrong. What could have happened? She felt shame rising within her as she looked at the ground.

"Lily, we love you, we truly do. You are our goddaughter, and you're the closest to a child we'll ever have." Remus said. "You have to understand that for us, this is killing us inside. We want to protect you, but you go out and you do things that are far more dangerous than anything you should be doing."

"I know… I… I'm sorry," Lily said meekly, her tears starting to flow. Sirius and Remus looked at one another before embracing Lily in a hug.

"We just want what's best for you," Sirius said softly, his stubbled face causing hers to itch slightly. "You're the most important part of our lives. If we lost you… I don't know how we'd cope."

"I… I'll do better, Uncle Sirius, I promise," Lily said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"The same goes for you, Ginny," Sirius said, pulling her into the hug. "You're family too. Hell, at this rate, you and Lily are going to end up married or something, and we need to look out for you too."

"We do understand, Ginny. Believe me, we do. One of our friends, years ago… they felt the same as you. They had lost someone close to them, someone they loved dearly. Marlene McKinnon was killed, along with her family, and Cassie… Dorcas Meadows, she was so angry, she went looking for Death Eaters. She killed several of them by herself. She became blinded by anger than she ended up finding Voldemort, and being killed personally by him," Remus explained softly.

"It wasn't long after that when he tried to kill you, Lily. If Cassie had managed to reign in her anger, she probably would have survived the war," Sirius added. "We tried to get there in time to help her, but it was too late. The most we could do was drive off Voldemort and made sure she had a decent burial."

"Revenge is a powerful motivator, and it'll make you fight hard, but you'll be blinded by rage, and you'll make a mistake. Too many people have done the same in the past, and it's always led to tragedy. We can't let you go down that path," Remus insisted, before taking a sip of his drink. "Right now, we need to do everything we can to protect you."

"I… I know," Lily accepted the admonishment. She'd never heard this story before, but she felt her heart aching for both men. They had clearly cared for their friends, and to hear how they died… it was horrible.

"Anytime you need to talk, or feel your anger rising, or if you feel like you want to do anything like this, talk to us. We're here for you, always," Sirius said. Lily nodded, promising to do so. She wanted to tell them about Umbridge, but she knew now wasn't the right time. As she felt her tears rolling down her cheek, whilst hugging her uncles, she wondered how much longer she could keep her scars hidden. She'd been using make up to hide them; she'd thankfully applied some make up that evening, using magic to keep it on her hand, but she knew that eventually, she'd need to explain everything, and on that day, she knew there'd be a reckoning.


Molly arrived in the early hours of the morning, explaining that Arthur was going to be fine. She thanked Lily and Ginny for helping to save Arthur, although she did also warn them not to do something so dangerous again. She had been clearly struggling between being angry and being thankful for the fact that Arthur was still with them.

Molly explained that Arthur was being kept in until they could find a way to close his wounds, since the venom from the snake seemed to be keeping them open. The whole group, after Moody and Tonks had arrived, went to St. Mungo's, to visit Arthur.

Travelling there had been simple; they used Sirius's car, which had been expanded magically so they could all fit inside. Getting out had been a little tricky; they needed to be careful that they weren't seen by muggles.

As they reached what looked like an abandoned shop, Lily had been surprised to see Tonks talk to a mannequin, which then indicated for them to enter. They walked through the shop window (Lily found it strange that no one was watching at that point, and made a note to ask about it), finding themselves in what looked like a reception area of a large hospital, like the one where Lily had gone to see Lana to get her diagnosis of PTSD and Depression.

Arthur was cheery, despite the circumstances, although he refused to talk about where he had been, or what he had been doing. Everyone knew some of what had happened, due to Lily seeing everything, but the why was still something no one was talking about. Why had Arthur Weasley been at the ministry that night? He was clearly guarding something, but what? The weapon that had been mentioned in the first meeting Lily had attended.

When Ron, Fred, George, Lily, and Ginny left the room to wait outside, they listened in using an invention of Fred and George's, called the Extendable Ear.

"What does Albus think of all this, Alastor?" Molly asked.

"He's a little concerned about the lass doing what she did, but the fact that she and Ginny are getting stronger gives him some comfort. He knows You-Know-Who wants to possess Lily, but that's impossible now, thanks to your daughter," Moody replied.

"That's a relief," Molly said, breathing a sigh of relief. "When they first got together, I thought they were just being young kids in lust, but it really is love, isn't it?"

"I would say so dear," Arthur said. "Although I know Dumbledore is concerned about them doing too much."

"Aye. If I were at Hogwarts, I'd be teaching them personally. At the rate they're going, they're going to be more powerful than You-Know-Who, and that'll make them even more dangerous to him," Moody replied.

"I'm afraid that they're going to do something too dangerous one of these days," Molly's voice sounded ready to break, with Lily and Ginny listening in and giving each other a look of concern; they both knew it was a bad idea to try that again.

"Well, Potter's certainly proving to be a matter of curiosity. Sirius sent Dumbledore a message after the kids had fallen asleep, about what the girl said she'd felt. Apparently, Albus thinks that Potter heard Nagini's actual mind," Moody explained.

"Wait, what does that mean?" Tonks asked, clearly confused. Even Lily was confused.

"You didn't know? That Snake's not a snake, it's a Maledictus," Moody replied.

"How does Albus know that for sure? Is he certain?" Arthur asked. The group outside the room looked at one another, silently agreeing that they needed to speak to Hermione. Where was she when they needed her?

"Aye, he's certain. He met her before the curse took hold; she even helped fight off against Grindelwald," Moody explained. "I suspect Albus wasn't pleased when You-Know-Who got his slimy mitts on the poor lass. Albus thinks she was forced to do whatever she's been doing."

"Poor woman," Molly said softly. "Another victim of that lunatic."

"Still, what does this mean? Is Lily or Ginny in any danger?" Arthur asked.

"Aye, more than they realise. If You-Know-Who figures out what happened, then he'll either try and work some dark magic to possess them or try and kill them both quickly. Either way, they need some extra training," Moody replied.

"You're still in Hogsmeade, right?" Molly asked.

"Aye, so's Tonks," Moody confirmed. "We're keeping an eye on them as best we can, but Umbridge is making things difficult. Right now, we need to focus on finding out more about White and dealing with him. He's playing a clever game, and so far, we're damned lucky that You-Know-Who hasn't gotten what he wanted from the Ministry. If he does, that's it, he'll be able to use it to his advantage, and we'll lose."

Stepping away from the door, the group looked at one another; they had been right. There was some kind of weapon, and it was at the Ministry of Magic. What made Lily's heart sink more was knowing that if White was working for Voldemort, then they had to do something quickly, or they'd all be killed and Voldemort would finally be successful in taking over the world, something Lily knew she couldn't let happen, whatever the cost.