Chapter 16 “ I Don’t Get Much Sleep
“How are you doing now that you know
How I’m doing since you did
What you’ve what you’ve done to me?”
- “How am I Doin’” by Dirks Bentley
----
It wasn’t anything grand or wonderful. No reporters stood outside the gates, snapping photos at everyone who passed by. No stories appeared in magazines about the couple and how right or wrong they were for each other. In fact, no one really knew, except a few select friends and family who brought more happiness to the occasion than the couple could have ever wanted.
It had to be a muggle ceremony since the groom was legally unable to wed in the wizarding world, being a werewolf and all, but that didn’t bother any of them. Her dress was a beautiful creamy white, her hair changed to her original deep black for the occasion, done up just the way he liked it, a veil crowing her head. His tux was rented, a dark black that matched her hair. A single white rose was pinned to his pocket, matching the bouquet she held in her hands.
No one walked her down the aisle, her father dying in the recent war and his father dead long before that. They didn’t want to fill the spot with anyone who didn’t fit either of those categories, so they left it blank as a memory.
There were a lot of memories.
The best man looked remarkably like a different black-haired boy who used to always stand at the grooms side, but he wasn’t that boy. He was a man now, a quite famous one at that. He cheered the loudest as the new husband and wife kissed.
The thirty or so guests went to the reception at a friend’s house. Simple, tasteful, and done in a backyard, it was just what the couple had wanted. The only sadness was found in the memories of those who were not with them there, those who had been lost already,
There were sad memories too.
The flower girls joked with one another, both complaining about their new shoes and specific boys who wouldn’t ask them to dance. After the bushy brown-haired girl was finally swept away by her boyfriend, the red-haired flower girl was left alone. But not for long.
The gangly best man dragged her into a dance, making her smile and laugh. Almost making her forget. But also making her remember. Making her remember the good times before. The times when she didn’t want to forget.
There were happy memories too.
As the guests toasted one last time to the happy couple, the black-haired best man gazed longingly at his friends. He saw the light and happiness shining in their eyes and the love they shared for one another.
And as he longed for the past to be rewritten, for his life to be changed, he also longed for what that couple had.
Not noticing the red haired girl glancing at him from a few tables over, he had no idea how long it would take him to get it. And how much he would have to endure.
----
A small red-haired toddler wobbled on her feet, her face in an expression of compete concentration as she worked one foot in front of the other, careful steps taking her towards her goal.
A man with red hair with just a hint of grey, held his arms out towards the girl, an oafish grin on his face as he encouraged her forward, his eyes full of obvious wonder as he drank in the sight of his daughter taking her first steps towards him.
An older child, probably around seven or eight, with bushy red hair, came up behind the man, wrapping her arms around his neck and following hi gaze towards her baby sister, joining in her father’s words of encouragement, bliss written across her face as she gets lost in the moment with her family.
A simple picture frame rests on the fire mantle behind them, depicting a bookish woman, her busy hair held back in a tie and her arms wrapped around the red haired man, both of them smiling joyfully towards each other and the camera, sneaking secret kisses and their hands never leaving one another.
Two simple candles sit on either side of the picture, continually burning softly in the glow of the almost-set sun, charmed to remain lit forever, or, at least, until the memory of the woman ceased haunting the family she had left behind.
With a start, Hermione Weasley awoke.
----
Ron was jerked out of a fitful, upright sleep as Hermione suddenly sat up in bed, a sob strangled in her throat as she glanced wildly around the room, tears filling her eyes.
Without thinking, Ron leapt forward, gathering her into his arms as her tears started to fall, her body shaking with fright and anxiety at whatever she had just experienced.
She seemed to grip him tighter than usual, her arms coming around his waist and her hands locking together on his back. Ron wasn’t in a hurry to let her go, either, and, for a moment, they simply stayed there, holding each other, both of them realizing how much they had missed.
“Alright?” Ron finally whispered, pulling back enough to kiss the top of her head, but then brining her back into his arms again.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” she replied simply, her voice slightly muffled in his chest, and her grip not failing.
“Of course I’m here,” Ron said firmly, but then his heart broke a bit as he realized what she was referring to. “I’m sorry I wasn’t before.”
She shook her head slightly, turning to rest her cheek over his heart. “It’s my fault too.”
He heard the exhaustion in her voice, but chose not to say anything. He was at a loss at how to reply, though. Now was not the time to get into another argument, even if it was about whose fault it was. Though Ron knew the blame rested squarely on him, Hermione must have felt guilt for rejecting him so quickly without even letting him defend himself.
Finally, choosing his words carefully, he pulled back from her, making it so they were looking into each others eyes. “You know I love you more than anything in this world and nothing can make that change.”
Anguish and shame flashed across her face for a moment, but Ron kept his hands on her shoulders, stroking them gently with his fingers. Silently she mouthed “I know”, her voice chocked up with emotion and more tears gathering in her eyes.
Ron felt a few more of his own tears fall as he pulled her back into his embrace.
Meekly, he heard her whisper, “And you know that I love you…all of you…and I have ever since I was fourteen years old.”
Ron clamped his eyes shut tighter, trying to block the tears, but unable to do so. Burying his face into her hair, his reply came out in barely more than a whisper.
“I know.”
----
An incessant knocking startled Harry out of a fitful sleep, his eyes flashing open at the same time he reflexively reached for his wand under his pillow. Morning amnesia swept over for a moment and he blinked several times, trying to remember where he was and what was going on.
Thankfully, slipping his glasses onto his face and seeing Dobby stick his head in moments later and cleared a few things up.
“Dobby is sorry to wake you, Master Harry Potter, sir, but Mister Lupin is insisting that he speak with you.”
Another blink brought back the past week to Harry’s mind and he forced himself to get up, shoving his wand in his back pocket and throwing on a t-shirt to go with the jeans he had slept in. Dobby skirted away, obviously running down to tell Remus that Harry was coming, and Harry ducked into his bedroom, making sure he didn’t walk down there looking like the living dead.
A tired and exhausted face stared back at him, but was most definitely his. He couldn’t remember the last time he had slept through the night. After returning from the hospital that morning, Harry had crashed onto his bed, grateful that he coordinated his own work schedule and was prepared for a good five or six hours of sleep. Glancing at his watch informed him that he had barely gotten three.
He splashed a bit of water on his face, toweling it dry quickly and heading downstairs.
Remus was sitting at his kitchen table, wearing a pleasant expression as he stood to greet Harry with their customary hug. Harry’s last year at Hogwarts and the subsequent years spent in American and England had kindled a kind of father-son relationship with the werewolf, something akin to what Harry had wanted to get with Sirius. When Remus finally got married to Tonks, he had Harry stand as his best man and Harry had sworn to do the same for him. Harry had stayed with Tonks and Remus for a few years after their marriage and considered Remus something like the godfather. Indeed, most of the wizarding world knew Remus as a sort of honorary godfather to Harry, nothing to replace Sirius, of course, but enough to give Harry a family.
“I see everything went alright last night?” Remus questioned.
Harry couldn’t help but smile brightly. “They have a beautiful little girl. Ron wouldn’t tell us the name, said he needed to talk to Hermione first.” The mention of Hermione must have brought some anxiety onto Harry’s face, because Remus raised a curious eyebrow.
“And how is she doing?”
Harry grimaced. “Well, I suppose. Apparently her raw magic had begun to harm the baby and they had to do some tricky spellwork to save both of them.” He looked seriously up at Remus. “They say she’s lost almost all of her magical reserves in her core.”
Remus would have gasped in surprise, but instead his eyebrows merely rose to his hairline. “I didn’t think that was possible without the witch or wizard dying. There are several dark spells that do that sort of thing.”
“It was a close call,” Harry agreed, blowing out a sigh. “And a long night.”
Remus looked apologetic. “I know you were trying to catch up on sleep, so I’ll keep this quick, but I thought you would be interested in this.”
He held up the day’s Daily Prophet for Harry to see.
Harry’s jaw dropped to the floor as he read the headlines on the front page.
----
“May I help you?”
Emily serenely turned to the voice that came out of an office a few feet behind her that she had just walked by. A middle-age witch was sticking her head out, looking at Emily distrustfully. Her hair was done up in a messy bun, ebony black streaked with bright pink and purple. Her robes were those of an official Auror, probably pretty high ranked, and her nailed were painted to match the streaks in her hair.
A quick appraisal of all this told Emily this was no one she should bother herself with.
“No thank you,” she replied in a sickeningly sweet voice. It was the first time she had actually replied to anyone who had spoken her through her journey into the Ministry building and eventually into the DMLE headquarters. Catcalls from men were easy to ignore and more than once she had faked hearing problems.
Turning away again, she continued her search, but was stopped once more by someone grabbing her elbow rudely, jerking her around.
“Ma’am, unless you have an official visitor’s clearance, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” It was the same woman, her expression becoming harder as she spoke to Emily.
“Oh really? How is it that I was able to get this far without someone stopping me before?” Emily countered. Something about the woman was starting to unnerve her slightly and she could tell that the woman had a different agenda than just getting Emily out of the building. It was almost as if she knew her from somewhere.
“Obviously there are more important things for us to be dealing with than obnoxious Americans busting into the filing department of the DMLE.”
Emily couldn’t help but frown. “The filing department? I was looking for the department of Ward and Safety Measures.”
That seemed to have done something, for the woman dropped her arm abruptly, instantly becoming more suspicious. “Oh really? Care to share why?”
“Not particularly,” Emily said truthfully, dramatically rubbing her arm where the woman had gripped it. “But I suppose you won’t take that for an answer, would you?”
“Maybe I could help you get to wherever you’re heading quicker than you, seeing as you’ll probably get lost in every department,” she replied cockily, folding her arms in front of her.
The gesture triggered something in Emily’s memory and the identity of the woman almost floated to her mind, but it was lost as quick as it had come.
The last time she had seen this woman, she had not looked like this.
Emily sighed, getting frustrated. “And you are?”
The woman snorted. “Right. I think first you better tell me who you are and why you are trying to find the WSM without a visitor’s pass.”
Emily huffed, but decided that she wasn’t getting anywhere being elusive. “Alright…I’m looking for Remus Lupin.”
The woman’s eyes flashed dangerously at her and she had to force herself to not take a step back. “Why.”
It was a command, not a question, but Emily managed a smile. “Touch a soft spot?”
The Auror unexpectedly whipped out her wand, pointing it at Emily’s chest. “What do you want with Remus Lupin?”
Emily held out her hands in a submissive gesture. “Whoa, calm down, honey. I just was looking for him to…discuss a few things.”
The Auror held her wand and her gaze on Emily for a few moment moments before replying. “Whatever you need to discuss with him, you can discuss with me.”
“With you?” Emily raised a confused eyebrow. Who was this lady and what in the world did she have to do with Harry’s werewolf friend?
“I’ll be sure my husband gets your messege.”
Emily wanted to laugh. Who was she kidding? “Are you serious? You’re the chick who married Harry’s godfather? Why you can’t be much older than me, the cradle robber.”
The woman merely laughed, apparently having heard it a million times. “For your information, ‘honey’, I was out here in the real world fighting real problems while you were in grade school wondering which outfit to wear.”
Furious at the woman’s candor, Emily realized that she would be no help. “Fine, be that way.” She turned and began walking back towards the exit. “I have plenty of ways to get what I want.”
----
Tonks glared at Emily’s retreating back, wishing she could have really used her wand. It still was clenched in her very tight fist, her knuckled turning white over the pressure, but she ignored it.
A whole new piece had been brought into the puzzle of their lives if Emily was now trying to get at Remus.
Tonks had no doubt that had been Emily. Despite that she had never actually met the woman, she had seen her at the Weasley’s party and had seen a picture that Harry sent. Emily, predictably, had no idea who she was, but the small flicker of recognition in her eyes when Tonks revealed her relationship with Remus showed that Emily had probably seen Tonks at the party as well.
After Emily was no longer in site and glaring at the door was doing her no good, Tonks practically raced up to Remus’ office, bypassing a few people who called out to her and locking the door behind her as she entered.
Remus had to still be at Harry’s, breaking the news to him. They had both been horrified this morning to see the headlines on the Daily Prophet and knew that Harry, ever being averse to that particular newspaper, probably wouldn’t see them for a while.
Plastered at the top of every story had been a headline describing one more Chudley Cannon player who was mysteriously suddenly unable to play in tomorrows game. Ron hadn’t been among the listed, but there were ailments from Wizard Pox to death in immediate family members that knocked player after player off the team rooster for tomorrow. Fortunately, Tonks knew that the team was equipped with plenty of standby players, at least two for every position, but the Cannon’s reputation had been based on their prime team’s performance, their starting lineup.
Neither Remus nor Tonks knew exactly what had happened between Harry, Ron, Hermione and Emily since the lovely Miss Lennon’s appearance at the Weasley’s party, but both were willing to bet that the game on Saturday was an important factor. Remus had decided to take the morning off work and go tell Harry, but Tonks was beginning to worry that this was getting much more serious than either of them realized.
Finally finding the floo powder, she threw a pinch in the flames, sticking her head in and calling “Number Three Godric’s Hollow!” A whirl of emerald flames had her staring into Harry’s sparsely, but tastefully decorated sitting room, neither of the boys in sight.
“Remus! Harry!” she called to them. A second later, the two were hurrying into the room, a newspaper clutched tightly in Harry’s fist and his expression hard and angry. Remus looked a little flustered and unsure of himself, only smiling when he saw that it was Tonks.
“Are you alright?” Remus asked her, concerned.
“I just had a run in with the wicked witch herself,” Tonks spat out, looking more towards Harry than Remus, trying to gauge the younger man’s reaction. “She was looking for Remus.”
Harry’s frown deepened, and worry lines creased his forehead. “How would she even know where to find Remus? And what does she want with him anyway?”
Tonks huffed, throwing some ash into the air that she ignored. “She said she had something to discuss with him.” She shot Remus a quizzical look. “Has she even met you before or talked to you?”
Remus shook his head, his mouth turning into a frown. “Not that I remember.”
“Well, she knows who you are, of course,” Harry said, frustrated, and Tonks saw him grip the paper in his hand tighter, if that was even possible. “I told her all about you…” Harry stood up, taking a deep breath and glancing away from them, the anger still evident on his face. “I told her everything.”
“Well, let’s not worry until we know what she’s doing. After all, it could just be a harmless conversation trying to get me to help her with something, which, of course, I wouldn’t,” Remus reasoned.
“No, you don’t understand,” Harry cut in, turning back to them, his eyes blazing. “Nothing is ‘harmless’ with her right now,” he explained. “She’s already got me and Ron in way over our heads and I’ll be damned if she’s going to get you. Either of you,” his eyes flicked to Tonks, who shot him a grateful smile.
“Harry,” she reasoned, “she can’t do anything to you anymore, she-“
“She already has!” Harry practically cried, holding out the newspaper in a frantic wave. “I know she was behind this, just like I know she’s trying to get at you two to get to me.” He took a deep breath, probably noticing their confused expressions. “Look, she only got Ron involved to get to me. Once she found out that it wasn’t that simple, and that she might actually lose, she’s starting to get others involved.” He glanced down at the headlines again, his head shaking with disbelief. “She’s completely insane if she thinks this is how it works.”
“How what works?” Remus asked with a raised eyebrow.
Harry looked back at them, his face guarded now. “I don’t want to get you two involved. It’s bad enough I’ve got Ron and Hermione’s futures on the line.” He looked hard at Remus. “Just leave it alone.”
Remus looked over at Tonks’ head in the flames, both of them looking carefully to see if they were in agreement. Tonks prayed that she was wrong, but she could tell that Remus was thinking along the same lines as she was.
Turning back to Harry, his face was a mixture of disbelief and pity. “She can’t actually think she’s going to get you to marry her, does she?”
Harry shrugged. “I’m not sure exactly what her motives are for this particular ploy, but I’m not sharing them with either of you. The less involved you are, the faster this will be over for everyone.”
Without another word, he swept out of the room leaving the slightly rumpled newspaper on the floor.
Remus, deciding it best not to follow him, turned back to his wife.
“You think so too, don’t you?” he asked her. “You think Emily’s blackmailing Harry into marriage?”
Tonks pursed her lips. “It’s a definite possibility. Form what he’s told us about her, she always did get what she wanted. And judging from how she was acting at the Weasley’s party, our Mr. Potter was near the top of that list.”
Remus still couldn’t quite believe it. “How can she think that a relationship built on their past has any hope? Even if he was to forgive her and started seeing her willingly?” He looked hopelessly at his wife. “Does she think that love is a game?”
“She probably sees it more as a challenge,” Tonks concluded. “Women like her get upset if they don’t understand something and set out to conquer that mystery.” Sighing, she smiled up at her husband. “You were quite a mystery for me, you know?”
“Oh, yeah?” Remus asked slyly, becoming more interested in the conversation. “How so?”
Tonks winked at him. “Why don’t we leave Harry to wallow in his love life for a while and you come back her and I’ll tell you?”
----
A/N: Please Review!!!