Hermione, Ron, and Harry had all changed into their best school robes and were anticipating their return back to Hogwarts. Every one of them had that feeling that they wanted the year to start, but they never wanted it to end. It was their last year at Hogwarts and that meant it would be their last year together. They would keep in touch but it would be awfully hard to keep in touch because of the Dursleys. What had happened to them anyway? Harry thought.
***
"Step back! Away I tell you!" Uncle Vernon spat angrily. He cast his oversized hand toward the intruders. "LEAVE MY HOME AT ONCE!"
The Death Eater drifted backwards calling for his other Death Eater patrons. Three more had entered the room and Aunt Petunia was motionless. Her body was as fragile as that of a piece of glass. She stepped backwards next to the wall, motioning for Dudley to stand next to her. They had all been enjoying a nice dinner when the Death Eaters had assaulted their home.
A Death Eater precariously took their wand out of their black satin robes which were drifting in the invisible breeze. "Vernon... Is it? You've caused a great deal of trouble," a Death Eater hissed.
"Vernon, what's he talking about?" Petunia pondered. She took a few steps closer to Vernon and discovered he was petrified, standing as still as a log. What had he done? "Vernon , dear, Have you done something?"
"Petunia, step out of the way you filthy half-blood! Your filthy muggle father and your putrid wizard mother won’t be able to save you this time." the Death Eater from the corner yelled angrily. "All we want is Vernon!"
"Why?! What did Vernon do?!" Petunia wailed. She began to cry and she shook slightly being scared out of her wits.
"He is an escaped convict of the Dark Lord. Twenty years ago he was somewhat of a guinea pig to the Dark Lord. He tested out all of his evil schemes on him. The Dark Lord has given us orders to scope out and kill Vernon Dursley," the Death Eater growled angry and took out his wand and began yelling out several spells which all seemed to seep into Vernon's thick skin.
"Vernon!" Petunia wailed. Uncle Vernon had fallen over and his face was like a corpse. His pale skin was contrasted by his eyes which were giving somewhat of a death glare. She felt for a pulse. Nothing. " VERNON!" Petunia wailed, crying at his side. Petunia stood up, her mascara was smudged from her tears and her heart had been broken as her husband had just died. She moved quietly over to the front door and walked up the stairs with a face that could scare even the bravest of people. The Death Eaters seemed to be enjoying this little taunting to Uncle Vernon and began firing hexes and jinxes at him even though he was already dead, not noticing the stealthy Petunia. She walked into her bedroom and opened her dresser drawer. I swore to myself that I would never use this, she thought to herself. She pulled out a wand. Seventeen inch with a maple trim. All this time, I had been a witch. Just like my sister. I didn't even know it. But now that I am a witch, even though it is the worst of disciplines, I can have vengeance on those you have killed my husband. Murdered him. All my confusions began when I received the howler two years ago. She walked down the steps and stared angrily at the dullard Death Eaters. You killed my husband. My husband. The only person I had loved. Why did you have to kill him. You should never have killed him. You're filthy little Dark Lord will never see you again when I murder you. Yes, murder. I will share with the world my murderous tale at how I had killed three Death Eaters from the wizarding community. I will be a legend. A hero. But all your little sneers and smirks will be wiped away when I kill you, Petunia thought ravenously to herself.
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" A Death Eater had noticed her on the first step and killed her with a grin the moment he had noticed the evil gleam in her eyes. Her need for vengeance was ruined. Her life was gone and so was her husband's.
Dudley stood still. He looked terrified; his mother, his father, dead. The Death Eaters turned toward him. "Well, we were only supposed to kill your father, but what's the fun in just two? Three deaths will please the Dark Lord greatly."
Dudley was always a bit of a baby and began to cry. His final time on earth. "Wait! Before you kill me, can I please just ask you one question?!" Dudley choked out trying to spare him a few more moments to live.
"Why not!" a Death Eater spoke. "The longer the wait, the slower the death." The Death Eaters enjoyed taunting young ones. They were much more fun to see die.
"Two years ago. I saw these...these things. My brainless brother told me they were Dementors —" Dudley was interrupted by the Death Eaters scaly voice.
"Yes, yes. Dementors. Get on with it prat!" The Death Eaters began to get agitated and wanted to kill him right here and there.
"When I looked into their faces...I saw.....I saw myself. I was there. It was my face. I was dead," Dudley finished weakly.
"Well, if you're done now, we can eliminate you and that little vision you had with a Death Eater will come true after all." The Death Eater flung his wand at Dudley and Dudley dropped to the floor with a loud thud. His limp body was thrown against the wall and back onto the floor. "That filthy half-blood," a Death Eater said with malice.
The Death Eater turned to the one who was insulting the Dursleys and asked, "He's a half-blood? I just thought his mother was."
"His mother's genetic traits were passed down to him. He's part wizard."
The Death Eaters strode outside the Dursley's home and one of them flicked his wand at the top roof. A jet of green light projected from his wand and at the top of the home was the wizarding symbol that was most feared. The green serpent was slithering out of the skull's mouth and curling around in the night sky telling the whole word that the Dark Lord has returned.
***
The train was chugging along at a quick pace. They were bound to be at Hogwarts in an hour or two. But in the meanwhile, Harry looked out of the pale window. He was so tired of the quiet ride there that he just had to show them. He had to show them the note. The cryptic note that had him thinking. Who was it from? What did they mean by they couldn't fight any longer?
Harry pulled out the piece of paper and threw it on the ground in front of Hermione's feet.
"What's this?" Hermione asked picking it up with her fragile hands.
"Read it..." Harry said resting his head on the window.
Hermione began to read but Harry interrupted quickly. "Aloud. Read it aloud so Ron can hear it too."
"Okay," Hermione said, starting over from the beginning. "Dear Harry, I have a feeling I shall go mad. I cannot go on longer in these terrible times. I shan't recover this time. I hear voices and cannot concentrate on my work. I have fought against it but cannot fight any longer."
Harry looked up at them and they looked back at him with a confused look. "Harry, who's this from?" Hermione queried.
"I don't know," Harry said, thinking to himself. "The envelope didn’t say anything."
"Harry, this handwriting…it seems like it was quickly written. Like they were in some sort of a hurry. But it is more like an adults. But sloppy all in the same way."
Suddenly it hit him, his father’s lifelong friend: Remus.
"Remus. It must be him. It has to be him. The handwriting. The tattered and burned encasing it came in," Harry said.
"What is he going to do?" Ron asked with a worried face.
"I don't know, but it doesn't sound —" The train suddenly stopped abruptly and the windows shattered. The train began to shake and the stall's doors flew open.
"Bloody Hell!" Ron yelled. "What's bloody happening?!" Ron shouted once more trying to stabilize himself in his seat.
Harry stepped up carefully and walked out into the hall. Other faces peeked out of the stalls and they all saw an engulfing fire that was creeping slowly down the aisle way.
Draco Malfoy stepped out into the aisle and smirked at the moving fire. He used the extinguishing spell but nothing happened. He tried the spell over and over but all that he caused was for the fire to enlarge.
Harry jumped back into his stall and shut the door trying to stay alive.
"Hermione. Do you think you could replace the broken glass on the stall's window with steel?"
"Why steel? Harry, what's happening out there?" Hermione's voice wavered and she began to become scared.
"Hermione, please...quick. Anything fire proof!" Harry shouted.
"Fire? Harry, there's a fire on the train?" Hermione began to panic as her life was in danger but she took out her wand and replaced the stall's window with a fireproof piece of metal.
"Okay, that's good. Now we need to somehow melt the top and bottom of the stall door so the fire won't be able to get through."
Hermione knew exactly what to do and she sent off spells and charms and it was finished. It was now steaming hot inside the train and they could hear the cracking fire roaming down the halls. Luckily with Hermione's handy work they were alright, but was everyone else safe?
Hermione was nudged in the corner of the stall and Ron was close to her, comforting her and protecting her. Harry suddenly heard an explosion outside the stall and heard screams.
"What happened?" Hermione asked, hoping that Ginny and all the other Weasley's would be safe.
It was still. Everything was quiet.
"Is it over?" Hermione asked, her voice was vacillating now and she was breathing in short intervals.
Harry heard voices that were outside the stall. They weren't screaming voices so he knew it was over. Someone or something must have put the fire out. Harry blasted open the metal protection and looked outside the car. Three stalls down was where the tragedy had happened. The wind was blowing inwards as Harry looked at the gaping hole in the train where a stall had once been. He looked up and saw five Death-Eaters hovering away and out into the distance. Ginny ran down the hallway when she saw Harry.
"Where's Ron?! Is he all right?!" she asked hastily.
"Ron's fine. He was with us. We are all fine," Harry said giving Ginny a quick hug. When he let her go she was blown over by a strong gust of wind which came through the empty hole on their car.
"What happened?" she asked, running over to the hole.
"Well, I heard an expl —" Harry was interrupted by Ginny's voice. She was crying. She knew someone in that stall.
"What? What happened?" Harry asked quivering in the breeze.
"Stall twenty-seven. My friend was in that stall. No one could have survived that fall." Ginny's tears were streaming down her face and she ran into Harry's chest and threw her arms around him.
"Who, Ginny?" Harry asked.
"Harry, do you remember fifth year?" She sniffed and wiped away her tears which never seemed to stop flowing.
"Yeah, why?" Harry asked, stepping back for a minute.
"Well, do you remember who you met? A girl, about my age?" she asked.
Harry knew who it was. He now knew. "Oh, Ginny. I'm so sorry." He hugged her and wouldn't let her go. Hermione walked out of their stall and saw Ginny.
"Harry, what happened?" she asked, stroking Ginny's flaming orange hair.
The conductor of the train was running down the train's cars finally managing to rummage into theirs. "What in bloody hell happened down here?" the conductor said. He saw the large hole in their car and was wondering frantically who was in that car and how he would explain it to their parents. "Oh, well we had a bit of a run in with some Death-Eaters and your son and/or daughter has been killed," the conductor thought to himself. No. That's layin' it on too thick. "I'm sorry, but your son and/or daughter has been killed by a group of Death-Eaters that attacked our train not long ago. I am so sorry for your loss. The school will be hosting a memorial service for them shortly." Yeah, that's good. That's real good. The conductor said with a pleasant grin on his face knowing that he had achieved what he had wanted. "Who was in the car? Did any of you's know them?"
Ginny looked up and nodded her head. "I knew one of them." She sniffed and moved from Harry to Hermione.
"Who was it Ginny?" Hermione asked again. Her fright began to rise as Ginny said she knew this person. Hermione knew most of Ginny's friends and was ready for the worst.
"It's Luna. Luna is dead," Ginny said sniffing. Hermione gasped and began to comfort Ginny again. Luna Lovegood had been a cheery young lady. She was a bit on the odd side, but that never covered up her ability to care for anyone even if they didn't care for her in return. The conductor suggested they moved into a car that hadn't been burned. They all walked to a new car. Once in the new car, the Hogwarts Express started up again leaving the destroyed cars in the dust and leaving horrible memories imprinted in their minds that would never leave them.
***
Harry, Hermione and Ron were quiet as they saw Hogwarts come into view. They couldn’t talk about what had happened only an hour ago. The train's remaining cars halted to a stop at Hogwarts. The students exited the train and watched the full moon as it drifted through the night sky. Harry was wondering what was happening to Remus at the moment; he was worried.
***
Remus looked out the pale window inside Grimmauld Place and saw the full moon caressing around his living space. He looked back inside the home and was ready for whatever was going to happen.
The transformation was beginning.
His sheer cries of pain erupted through the house and outside onto the dark and shadowy landscape.
Screaming. Yelling. Any form of pain was happening to Remus. Although, this time it was different. The transformation lasted much longer than normal. His back was more hunched and his claws were longer. Growls were heard from outside the home. His transformation was complete.
No one was accompanying Remus inside Grimmauld Place making sure that he was secure inside the home. He was all alone. Him. Only him. This could cause problems.
Horrible, horrible problems.
***
Everyone was invited inside Hogwarts and Harry, Hermione, and Ron all walked into the Great Hall to be welcomed by their headmaster. They sat down at the Gryffindor table and began to whisper to each other about the events on the train.
Harry suddenly remembered something. Something from his dream. What had happened to the Knife of Sudane? Harry thought to himself. In his dream Hermione had obtained the key to receive the Knife of Sudane. Did she still have the key? Harry contemplated.
"Hermione," Harry began, "Hermione, did Mrs. Weasley ever give you anything before we left?"
"Yeah. Why?" Hermione asked pulling what Mrs. Weasley had given her from her robe pocket.
"So you have it. The Knife of Sudane!" Harry ended abruptly as he saw what she had taken out of her pocket.
"The knife of — what? All I got from her was this pocket watch. She said that I needed to keep better track of time," Hermione laughed showing Harry the old and tattered pocket watch.
"Oh. Never mind then." Harry had looked down in his lap and began asking himself questions. Well, if she hasn't gotten the Knife of Sudane yet, will she get it soon? Mr. Weasley is in St. Mungo's. In my dream, though, Mrs. Weasley had given her the key. If she is at home, who is going to give Hermione the key? Does the Knife of Sudane even exist? Harry had to end his train of thought when Dumbledore stood up in front of everyone and began his speech.
"Hello everyone and welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! This year Hogwarts has a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Everyone please give a warm welcome to Masaria Lanear!"
Masaria Lanear stood up from her chair and waved to everyone as they applauded back to her. She gave everyone a welcoming smile and sat back down.
"Doesn't seem too bad, does she?" Harry whispered to Ron.
"No. Not too bad," Ron replied.
"Everyone who has been here for more than one year knows the rules, but I will explain them for the first years. The Forbidden Forest is prohibited for all students, and no magic will be used in the corridors between classes. Everyone should be able to follow these rules since there are only two of them, but if you attempt to break one, you will have detention with Mr. Filch. Now, it's time for the sorting!"
Professor McGonagall brought the Sorting Hat up and placed it on the wooden stool. A face emerged from the fabric and all the first years gasped at what had happened. The slit where the mouth would have been opened and the Hat began to sing.
Once the song had ended, everyone burst out into applause. The Sorting Hat smiled back out at them and the Sorting had begun.
"Sue, Betty," Professor McGonagall shouted while reading from a list of first years. Betty walked up the steps and quivered as she saw everyone staring at her wondering what house she would be put in. She sat on the chair and bit her lip, nervous as ever.
The Sorting Hat began to speak, "Bossy, likes a challenge. Yet, you think you're better than everyone else. Better be...Slytherin!"
The Slytherin table clapped and cheered as she had been placed into their house. Professor McGonagall read aloud the next person's name, "Woods, Ashley." Ashley Woods was a little braver then Betty had been when walking up to the stool. She didn't once look at the group of faces looking back at her.
"Hmm. You are funny, smart, and brave. You enjoy helping people, but don't ask for anything in return. You are thoughtful. Better be Gryffindor!" the Sorting Hat called out. Ashley walked over to the Gryffindor table which was clapping and cheering for Ashley.
Later, when everyone had been sorted into their houses, they were all dismissed into their common rooms for a good night's sleep.
***
Remus was lashing through the house, clawing through doors, and breaking down walls. He growled angrily as drool drained through his mouth landed on the rough, wooden floor. His endless growling began to get louder and louder with each time. Grimmauld Place was being destroyed and it was about to get worse as Mrs. Weasley entered it.
***
The crisp fire in the Gryffindor fire room was cracking and Harry walked up the steps to go to bed, but before going to bed, Harry stayed behind and called for Ron and Hermione to stay behind with him. After everyone had gone to bed and they had been alone, Harry broke the silence.
"Ron, Hermione. I think I had somewhat of a premonition. The whole time I was asleep, I suppose that I was having a dream. Or a nightmare some would call it. It started with Hermione. She had been badly injured by Voldemort which led to this long story about something called the six stones of berfulema." He finished the story off with discussing his deadly encounter with Malfoy.
"So, everything that you dreamed of will happen...?" Ron asked.
"You're going to be killed? By Malfoy?" Hermione pondered in her own little world.
"That bloody git will never know what hit him when I'm through with him," Ron wailed quietly.
"No. No. I probably won't be killed. By Draco at least. Hermione never got injured. That's the bright side of things." Harry gave a weak smile and began to think that there would be no easy way to lighten the mood.
Harry took the three stones he had managed to grab out of his robe pocket. "I have three of the stones. Three more are still out there, though. The Knife of Sudane might also be a key thing in this vision."
"Harry. I have read about the Cliff of Crasilium before and it is on the far side of Ireland. It's in Antrim, Ireland. How are we going to be able to get there?" Hermione asked.
"By broom of course," Harry said as Hermione gave a sullen look.
***
Back at Grimmauld Place, Mrs. Weasley closed the door behind her and stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed the full moon outside. The inside of Grimmauld Place had been destroyed. That could only mean one thing. Remus' transformation. She stepped back outside before Remus would have the chance to kill her. She quickly walked away from the home and found a quick route back to the Burrow which was very far away from Grimmauld Place.
***
Meanwhile, inside, Remus was hunched over; baring his fangs. He ran at the front door and it shattered leaving an empty space for Remus to wander. He quickly ran out into the open air and he looked down the road each way; a hungry look on his face. He howled in the nighttime darkness and saw a young girl in the road walking toward her home. She turned around as she heard the howl and screamed as the werewolf came into view. She began to run. Remus sprang forward and tried to nip at her clothing. He missed. The wolf was right behind her. Her fear was rising as his hunger was growing. The young girl quickened her pace as she neared her home. Her warm, safe home. Remus launched himself at the girls leg, but the little girl was quite agile for her young age and ran left into the forest. Remus proceeded after her. The little girl was running now. Her breathing quickened as she was in what seemed to be like an obstacle course. She turned around to see where the werewolf was. There was nothing there. Nothing was behind her. She gave a quick smile as tears began to roll down her face. She had escaped from the werewolf.
"I made it," she said to herself. "I made it through." The young girl began to slowly walk back to her home trying to steady her breath. Then in the next moment, everything happened so fast it was all a blur to her. Remus sprang out of the trees snatching her arm and dragging her into the forest. The young girl's cries of pain echoed through the trees and out into the darkness. Her death was imminent. The day before was the last time she could see her mother, her father. The last time she could see her younger brother. The last time to do anything.
***
The next morning Remus woke up on the forest floor noticing the dead girl at his side. He jumped up and was horrified at the side. He touched his teeth and looked at his hand. Blood. There had been blood on his hands. He had killed the girl. The murderous werewolf had killed the young girl.
"No... NO! What have I done?!" Remus shouted out. He picked up the girl and placed her in the crevice of his arms. He noticed a small locket around her neck and took it off of her laying her gently back down on the cold and hard ground. "This locket. It looks familiar," he muttered to himself in confusion.
He flipped over the locket and looked on the back. Etched in a playful kids writing were the letters R.L. He flipped it back over and read the inside:
Dear Sisster,
I luv yu soo much! I am gladd yu ar mi sisster.
Yor brother,
Remus
The spelling errors and mistakes had been that of a child's. But the name. Remus. It was his. A few tears racked down his face. He brought the girl to her home. If his suspicion was right, he knew where it was. He knocked on the door and a woman answered.
"Hello. Who are you?" The housekeeper asked in confusion.
"I'm Remus. Remus Lupin," Remus replied with a few tears.
"Lupin? Remus Lupin? Oh my goodness. REMUS!" The woman sprung forward to give him a hug. "It's me, Rachael!" She was crying now. This was the happiest moment of her life.
"Rachael? Is it really you?" Remus was in awe. This was his sister. He was crying again. He looked down into his arms and handed her the child. Her bloody face had concealed her identity and Rachael hadn't known it was her own daughter.
"What's this?" she asked, taking the child from him. She looked down at the face and was still confused.
"It's your" — he sniffed and finished what he started to say — "it's your daughter."
"Olivia? OLIVIA!" She fell onto her knees and was weeping into her daughter's coat. "My baby! My beautiful baby!" She looked up at Remus and he couldn't help but go onto his knees and comfort his sister.
"That's a beautiful name," Remus said. He was trying to help but nothing could help at the moment. He handed her the locket.
"Oh!" She sniffed and took the locket from him. "I gave this to Olivia. You gave it to me when you were about" — she wiped away her tears and finished her sentence — "about five years old. Where did you find her?" She moved into the living room and placed her on the couch looking at her bloodied face.
"On the forest floor next to your home. Please forgive me, Rachael," Remus pleaded.
"Why. What did you do? I should be thanking you for bringing her to me. If you hadn't done that she would have been out in the forest cold and alone," Rachael finished, looking back at her daughter.
"I killed her, Rachael. On accident. I transformed into my werewolf form and it all happened so fast. I don't have much recollection of the incident. I'm so sorry," Remus said with guilt in his.
"Remus! You killed my daughter?!" Rachael screamed, tear stains still on her pale face.
Just then Olivia's eyes opened. "Mommy? What happened? I'm scared." Olivia sat up and hugged her mother. Remus was amazed and so was Rachael. Olivia was alive. When the blood was wiped away they had discovered, amazingly, that there had only been a few scratches. Only one serious cut had been on her arm.
"Olivia? Olivia you're alive!" Rachael gasped in excitement.
Remus gave a quick smile to Rachael and left their home. He walked back to Grimmauld Place and saw all the damage he had caused. He walked up the steps into his bedroom and in there was Mrs. Weasley.
"I noticed the full moon last night and thought I would stop by to see how you were doing," Mrs. Weasley finished lamely.
"Considering I almost killed my sister's daughter, I'm not doing too great," Remus went and sat on his bed and began to think of all the things that had happened in the morning.
"You found your sister? Remus, where did you find her?" Mrs. Weasley turned toward Remus with a smile forming on her face.
"She lives just down the street from here, it wasn't the best reunion," Remus completed turning toward his wall.
"Can I go see her? I mean, can we go see her?" Mrs. Weasley asked with curiosity in her voice.
"Well, I'm not so sure, if we don't get invited in, it won't be a surprise." He walked down the steps and out into the cool morning air. Mrs. Weasley followed him out into the street and walked to his sister's home.
Once there, he knocked on the door and a man answered. "Hello, may I help you?" the man asked.
"Hello, is Rachael Lupin there?" Remus asked, a slightly excited Mrs. Weasley standing next to him.
"I'm sorry. Rachael Lupin and her daughter, Olivia, died three years ago," the man finished with confusion. Why had they been asking for her?
"But, that can't be! I just talked to her a few minutes ago!" Remus cried.
"I'm sorry about the incident. Did you know her well?" the man asked.
"Yes. Very well. She was my sister," Remus said beginning to walk down the steps.
"I'm sorry that you just heard about this and in such an abrupt way." The man closed the door and Remus and Molly walked back to Grimmauld place with confusion written all over their faces.
----------------
Teaser for next chapter: A quick flashback to how it all began gives lots of information...but not all of it can be good news....can it?