Be Careful
79: What Greeting You Give
By Anne B. Walsh
Harry, Ginny, and Luna popped back into existence on the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. Luna staggered a pace, Ginny nearly fell, and Harry had to fight to keep his own footing, for the night was harsh and blustery here as it had not been at Malfoy Manor. Ginny yanked Harry’s sleeve and made spell-casting gestures, and Harry pulled out his wand and threw a general Finite at Ron as he appeared with Hermione. It was just in time, as Ron stumbled with the unexpected force of the wind and nearly lost his grip.
"Don’t want her to blow away," Harry shouted over the gusts, hurrying to take some of Hermione’s renewed weight in his own arms. "Which way?"
Ron nodded his head in the correct direction, and Ginny set off immediately, Luna lingering for one second to levitate the unconscious Hermione so that Harry and Ron could interlace their arms to make a chair for her. Harry’s eyes fell again on the ruins of his friend’s wrist, and his anger blazed up. I hope your house fell in on you for that, Malfoy...
Hermione settled, they started towards the cottage, which Harry could dimly see now by the lights from its windows. Voices became audible over the sound of the wind, and then Bill was hurrying out towards them, alarm visible on his scarred face, Fleur half a pace behind with her hair tangling itself into silver knots.
"All fine except her," Ron panted out as Bill lifted Hermione gently into his own arms. "But they know now about me, you’ve got to tell Mum and Dad—"
"Zey told us," Fleur interrupted. "Only a few minutes ago, Fred came to warn us. A message on ze Galleons, ‘e said, from Ginny..."
"I’m not going home," said Ginny loudly from the door, where she was holding it open. Luna was inside, Harry could see now, spreading an old sheet across the sofa so that Bill would have a place to lay Hermione.
Fleur fixed her sister-in-law with a cool glare. "No one spoke of sending you," she said, and continued when Ginny flushed. "Zey were much concerned, especially when ze second message came through, ze one which said where exactly you ‘ad been taken."
"Never mind that now," said Ron, sitting down on the floor beside the sofa where Hermione now lay, her face slack in unconsciousness. "We’re all right. What about them?"
"Moved to Muriel’s," said Bill, helping Ginny push the door shut. "Dad should be working the Fidelius Charm there now, and I’ve got to do one here as soon as we get you settled."
"I think not," said Fleur, who was bending over Hermione, examining the angry red flesh that now ended her right arm. "’Ow was zis done? Does anyone know?"
Ron shook his head. "I was upstairs," he said. "Harry and Ginny were outside. The only people who’d know that are—"
"I know," said Luna quietly. "It was done with Fiendfyre."
Fleur stared at the girl, and Bill blinked several times. "Luna, are you sure?" he said, striding over to look at her closely. "I mean, truly sure?"
"I know I sometimes believe things that you don’t understand," said Luna, gazing up at him. "But I saw someone hurt with Fiendfyre only a few months ago, and Hermione’s arm looks just the same as his did. I am sure."
"Damn." Bill flicked his hair back from his face with an impatient gesture. "It’s Dark magic," he explained when Ginny gave him an uncomprehending look. "I mean, they are Death Eaters, what else would you expect, but it’s worse even than what Snape used on George. I don’t think either of us can help her. She’s going to need a real Healer."
"We can’t exactly take her to St. Mungo’s," Harry said, sitting down on the arm of the chair Ginny had taken up residence in. "Are there any Healers in the Order? Left alive, I mean?" Part of him cringed at the reasonable tone of his words, but there wasn’t time to play games, not if Hermione was going to recover.
"Not in the Order, not exactly, but I do know who we can get." Bill went to the door again and pulled it open. "I won’t be long."
Harry leaned back against the chair and closed his eyes. His scar pulsed, trying to break through his tiredness and his worry for Hermione. Voldemort had not yet arrived at the remains of Malfoy Manor, but when he did, the punishments for any of the Death Eaters who had escaped the collapse of the house would be horrible.
And I probably won’t be able to block it out. I never can anymore when he’s truly angry.
"What happened in there, Ron?" Ginny asked from beside him. "How did you get out?"
"It’s a long story. If we’re going somewhere else tonight, I’d rather wait until we get there."
The careful neutrality in Ron’s tone made Harry open his eyes again. Ron was sitting beside Hermione, holding her hand and watching her closely. The way the couch was turned in relation to Harry’s chair meant that Ron’s face was turned away from him, but Harry would have bet his last Knut that Ron was chewing his lip as he did when he was trying to work out how much of what story to tell the latest authority figure who had caught them doing something against the rules.
What’s he hiding—and who’s he hiding it from?
The thought was interrupted by a banging on the door. "I’m back!" Bill shouted above the sound of the wind. "I’ve brought a friend!"
"Prove it," Fleur called peremptorily, waving her hand at Harry and Ron, who drew their wands. Luna did the same, and Ginny eased herself to one side so that she could reach the hilt of the sword.
"We were married on the first of August, and Kingsley Shacklebolt sent his lynx Patronus to our reception to warn us the Death Eaters were coming!" Bill called back. "Our friend was there, and he and his wife helped us chase them away!"
Harry sat up a bit straighter. His wife? Not many of the Order are married—
Fleur opened the door with her wand, and Bill nearly fell through, followed by a greying man with a worn face, who was nevertheless smiling broadly.
"Professor!" Ginny cried, jumping up. Luna, too, was beaming at the sight of Remus Lupin, and Ron looked up gladly. Harry wasn’t sure what kind of welcome he should look for, after their last meeting, but Lupin forestalled his worries by hurrying over to him and embracing him warmly.
"You’re not hurt?" he said, looking Harry over anxiously, then Ginny and Luna. "Bill said it was Hermione—"
"It is," said Ron, pulling back Hermione’s sleeve to display her ravaged wrist. "But I didn’t know you were a Healer."
"I’m not." Lupin hissed between his teeth at the sight of the damage, then went to one knee and lifted Hermione into his own arms. "Andromeda is, and Dora and I are staying with her for now because—well, why don’t we just go and you’ll see for yourselves."
"Go?" Harry said. "All of us?"
"Are you willing to leave Hermione?" Lupin asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
"No," said Harry and Ron at the same moment.
"Then yes, all of you. There’s room. You remember, Harry, you saw the house, though probably not much of it."
Harry nodded, remembering. "Hagrid and I stopped there first when we left the Dursleys’," he explained to Luna, who was looking inquisitive. "If you’re sure it’s all right?"
Lupin shifted Hermione’s weight, a small smile on his face. "Tonight, I think Andromeda would welcome even a barbarian horde," he said. "Fleur, Bill, I’m sorry to pop in and out—"
"Of course you must go," Fleur said, straightening up from where Bill had been whispering in her ear. "Give zem our best, and I ‘ope to meet ‘im soon."
"I hope that too." Lupin inclined his head to them, then stepped back out into the howling wind, Harry and Ginny following, Ron and Luna behind them. "Focusing on Andromeda Tonks’ home should get you there," he shouted as Luna got a better grip on Ron’s arm and Harry pulled Ginny close. "Don’t be alarmed if you feel something brush past you on the way in, that’s just the protective spells."
Harry nodded once and turned into the now-familiar darkness of Apparition, Ginny’s hand warm against his arm. Andromeda Tonks’ home, he recited to himself, visualizing the house he had seen blurrily for a moment from the outside, after Sirius’ motorbike had crashed into the garden with him aboard it... Andromeda had been Sirius’ favorite cousin, he remembered dimly, and wondered if her decision to marry a Muggleborn had helped Sirius to make his own break with the pureblood world...
An instant of roughness, like sandpaper against every inch of his skin, and then they were there, Ginny shuddering as though she had passed through cold water. The wind was not so bad here, and Lupin was already on his way to the door, calling out his identity as he went. Ron and Luna exploded into existence behind Ginny, Ron biting off the latter half of a swearword and Luna shaking her head. "That wasn’t nice at all," she said. "But I suppose if it means we’re safer here, it isn’t too bad."
"Let’s get inside," said Ginny, hurrying towards the door. "It looks like it might rain."
As though the sky had been waiting for her words, a few fat drops began to fall. The friends bolted for the safety of the house, but Ron, the last one up the steps, still had to wring out the hem of his robes before he went inside.
The house looked much as it had when Harry had last been there, except that Ted Tonks was no longer here, and never would be again. Harry felt a pang, thinking of the report on Potterwatch, and wondered if he should say something to Andromeda, but the older witch was already bending over Hermione, and the professional-sounding murmurs he could half-hear did not sound as though she would welcome distraction. Besides, he thought she might not like to be reminded of their other meeting, when he had mistaken her for her sister Bellatrix.
"Would you four—you three," Lupin corrected himself as Ron made a beeline for Hermione’s side, "care to come upstairs? Dora would be glad to see you, and there’s someone I want you to meet."
His small smile was back, and Harry recalled Fleur mentioning that she hoped to "meet ‘im soon." He couldn’t bring to mind who she could mean, but Ginny and Luna were trading excited glances, and climbed the stairs behind Lupin giggling together as though they were back at Hogwarts getting ready to go out and cheer a Quidditch match.
"Ginny," said Lupin as they reached the top of the stairs, "may I ask what on earth you’re wearing on your back?"
"It’s Gryffindor’s sword, Professor," said Ginny in a mock-demure tone. "I stole it from Headmaster Snape’s office. Well, really I stole the Sorting Hat, but the sword comes out of it when it’s needed, you know."
Lupin sighed, shaking his head. "Why am I not surprised Severus hasn’t been looking for you terribly hard?" he said rhetorically. "If you’ll let me put it somewhere safe for a moment, I’d just as soon you not wear it where we’re going. Not that Dora wouldn’t enjoy seeing it, but I’d rather she wait until... well, I think you understand."
"I do." Ginny unslung the scabbard’s belt from her shoulder and passed it to Lupin. "Here you are."
"And here you are." Lupin leaned into one of the bedrooms they were passing, turned on a light with his wand, and sent the sword levitating across the room to land on one of the beds. "You girls can be in here, since I doubt Andromeda will want Hermione moved even so far as upstairs at this point. Is Ron likely to want to stay near her, Harry? And you?"
"If it’s no trouble," Harry said, wincing as his scar stabbed again and gave him a clear image of the ruins that had once been Malfoy Manor, with three or four people shouting at one another outside them.
"None at all. We’ll make you up some beds when you’re ready for them." Lupin took another look at him. "Which I don’t think will be too long now. But for the moment, let’s give Andromeda a chance to finish examining Hermione, and you three can come and meet the newest member of the Order of the Phoenix."
The newest member? Harry frowned as Lupin went to a closed door and knocked on it. Is the Order still recruiting? I’d thought they all had to go into hiding...
"Who’s there?" called Tonks’ voice from within the room.
"I’m back, darling," Lupin answered. "With guests. Are you presentable?"
"Guests? Who—no, never mind, just give me a second." A sound as of creaking bedsprings. "Yes, come in."
Lupin opened the door, and Ginny shot inside, Luna on her heels. A cry of delight broke from both girls as Harry followed them in.
Tonks was sitting up in bed, covered by a knitted blanket, cradling a bundle in her arms. "Wotcher, you lot," she said with a broad grin. "Come meet our Teddy."
The pain in Harry’s head vanished on the spot as he crossed the room to peer eagerly down at the tiny, scrunched face topped with sparse hair the color of Ginny’s. He had seldom seen a baby before, and never one so young. "When was he born?" he asked.
"Just a couple hours ago." Tonks sighed, leaning back against the wall. "I’ll be sore for a fortnight, but he’s worth every second of it, aren’t you, beautiful?" She bent and kissed her son’s forehead.
"I should mention that he was born with black hair," Lupin added, chuckling in his throat. "Takes after his mummy, obviously."
"And not after his daddy," Tonks said, looking up. "Mum had time to do the test while you were away, love. You can stop worrying."
Lupin closed his eyes and sighed, and Harry saw half the lines go out of his face. Clearly the thought that his son might be a werewolf had still been preying on him despite his return to Tonks.
"You’ll get to meet Hermione later," said Luna to little Ted in a sing-song tone, brushing his nose with a bit of her hair. "She’s downstairs just now. Someday, when you’re bigger, she’ll tell you the story of the night she picked up Fenrir Greyback with magic and threw him into a fireplace..."
A slight choking noise from Lupin’s direction was revealed, when Harry glanced up at him, to be restrained laughter. Tonks was staring openly at Luna, and Ginny seemed not to have heard, being busy investigating the way Teddy’s hand would close around her finger when she stroked his palm.
For his own part, Harry wasn’t sure what to think. Luna seems to know what went on inside Malfoy Manor already, but how can she? She was outside with us, and she was never alone with Ron or Hermione long enough to find anything out...
"Harry." Lupin’s voice, speaking his name, brought Harry out of his thoughts, and he looked up to find the older wizard at his elbow. "We were hoping you’d agree to be Teddy’s godfather."
"Me?" Harry blurted.
"Who better?" Tonks asked from the bed.
"I—wow—sure, of course!" Harry shook his head, trying to get rid of the feeling of unreality about the whole scene. "Blimey—thanks—"
"Care to hold your godson?" Lupin steered Harry towards the bed without waiting for a reply, and Ginny scooted out of the way to let Harry sit down, then leaned in to arrange his unresisting arms into a cradle. Tonks sat forward, wincing slightly as she did, and deposited Teddy there, lying back with a sigh of relief.
"Hi," Harry said uncertainly, looking down at the baby. "Welcome, I guess. Sorry there’s a war on. We’re trying to get it done with, but we haven’t been doing so well lately..."
The good-natured laughter around him, and the feeling of something precious and fragile and living in his arms, banished the last vestiges of Voldemort from Harry’s mind for the moment, and pieces of information he’d had for months whirled into new places, locking together to form a conclusion.
"We’re going to need your help," he said, looking up at Lupin.
"Of course, Harry. Anything I can do." Lupin sat down on the edge of the bed beside him. "What is it?"
"As soon as Hermione’s well enough to travel, we’re going to Hogwarts." Harry watched as Teddy scrunched up his face still more, in an expression reminiscent of Tonks, and his few tufts of hair began to turn blond. "We need a way inside, and we need a way to find something hidden there. Because once we find it..."
Once we find it, we can end this.
And maybe I won’t need to do anything for my godson except give him too much chocolate and send him home all wound up.
Author Notes:
Yes, I’ve managed to write a fluffy chapter at this point of BC. I’m sure you all hate me for leaving Draco in his terrible predicament, but tell me honestly you didn’t enjoy meeting Teddy Lupin in person this time around... that’s what I thought. Besides, the night is young and I may yet write another chapter—especially since the next one sends us back to Malfoy Manor, or where it used to be, and opens up a vast new meaning to the word "evil" where it applies to one Lord Voldemort. Enjoy the wait, however long it may be, and don’t forget to review!