Content Harry Potter Miscellaneous
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Remus shut the door behind him, dropping a hand to the small amulet he wore on his belt. He’d left its partner with Ray and instructed it to activate if the boy woke or made any unusual noise. He’d probably be angry if he knew I was keeping tabs on him, but I want to be able to get to him quickly if he falls again like he did last night. Or if the news I had to give him sinks in badly and scares him...

Drawing a deep breath, he set Ray aside. I’ve done all I can for him right now. I need a minute to deal with something else. Someone else.

That someone lay before him in the dark bedroom, her breathing quiet and regular. Remus crossed the room to the blinds and pulled them open, squinting against the sudden brightness until his vision cleared. I only wish it were so easy, but she’s not likely to wake up just for a little light.

Reluctantly, he turned to look. Peri was exactly the way he remembered her from hospital. Arms by her sides, face still and composed, she could have been a statue except for the slow rise and fall of her chest. Remus placed a hand against her cheek, savoring the cool, smooth skin under his fingers.

"Not like this," he whispered, kneeling beside her bed. "I never wanted to bring you home like this." A smile rose unbidden to his lips. "We’re in the wrong room, even. We should be down the hall." His mid-year bonus had been unexpectedly large last year, and in a mood of crazy extravagance, he had bought himself a double bed. "I wanted to surprise you. To show you I was ready for you, when you were ready for me."

He’d imagined a quiet ceremony, private and small; they needed no grand displays to ensure the world of their love. A celebration with their friends, to share the joy, and then the homecoming. They would find every desire fulfilled in one another, and hold each other fast against the world, and never let go again...

He reached for her hand and took it, rubbing it between his own hands to warm it. "You’ll be leaving again soon," he said conversationally, trying to think of it in Ray’s terms. "I’ll miss you when you’re gone. There isn’t any way you’d consider letting me see you one last time before you go, is there? Not just you, but you. If that made any sense."

His chest felt tight, and he knew he was close to losing his battle with grief. "You can’t do this," he said under his breath, struggling to keep the words from coming out as a wail. "You can’t do this to me, Peri—you can’t just sleep your life away, without ever saying goodbye—"

He laid one of his hands on her chest, then slid it down to her belly. "Is this why?" he asked her. "Are you afraid of this? It doesn’t make any difference to me—I know, I’m not the one who has to deal with it, but you know I’ll be there with you every step of the way. Besides..." A shudder went through him. "...you won’t ever have to give birth..."

He laid his head on her arm, shaking all over. "Don’t leave me," he begged her. "Don’t leave me all alone. Even if it’s just for a little while, a few days, a few weeks—" He broke off, his voice half-choked.

"I can’t do this alone," he said quietly when he could breathe again. "I know Sirius and Aletha will be with me, and we’ll still have Harry and the girls, but I need you. We always wanted to be together, and I still want that. For as long as we can."

Because if you were here with me, then I wouldn’t have to believe it for a little while longer. For a day, or two days, or three, we could pretend that everything would be all right. That we were just an ordinary family, a man and a woman who’d made a life together, and who had nothing but joy to look forward to, watching their two beautiful children grow up.

We would all know it was a lie. But just for a day, we could pretend it was true.

Just for a day, we could be happy.

xXxXx

Harry ran up to Moony’s door, too impatient to wait for the adults. Hermione and Meghan were only a few steps behind, though Meghan was scowling at the restrictions placed on her by her shorter legs.

"All right," Padfoot said resignedly. He drew his wand and unlocked the door. "Stay quiet, someone’s probably sleeping."

Harry darted inside, then back out. "Don’t you mean Ray’s probably sleeping?"

"Ray or Peri," Letha said quietly, coming up the front walk unhurriedly. "She’s here now."

"Why?" Hermione asked curiously. "Is she awake?"

"No," Padfoot said, "but Moony wanted her here if it was possible. He’s very worried about her."

Harry snorted and ran back inside. He should be worried about her. And about Ray. They’re going to die—and all because of my mum.

That still bothered him, deep down inside. How could his mum, who by all accounts had been a good person, have done such a terrible thing? Padfoot claimed she didn’t know it was terrible, but why had she done that kind of magic if she didn’t know what it would do? Letha and Moony had drilled it into him from the first day they let him hold a wand to never, ever, ever do a spell unless he was sure of what he wanted it to do.

Maybe I’ll get a chance to ask her. If they say we can do this.

That was the other problem on his mind, getting the grown-ups to agree with their idea. They hadn’t told Padfoot and Letha what they were thinking yet—Hermione had said, and Harry and Meghan agreed, that it would sound better if they only had to say it once. It sounded worse and worse every time Harry said it inside his own head, so he could understand Hermione’s point.

But we’re here now. Moony will come downstairs, and we’ll all sit down, and we’ll tell him what we think we can do.

His heart was thumping faster than it ever did when he climbed trees or ran away from Dudley and his gang. What if they say no? What if they think we’re crazy? What if they won’t let us?

"He’s probably upstairs with Peri," Padfoot said quietly, sitting down at the kitchen table. "Do you want to go up, Letha, or should I?"

"I’ll do it," said Hermione, starting for the stairs.

"Fair enough," said Letha, sitting down beside Padfoot. "Harry, sit, or at least don’t do laps around the kitchen."

Harry made a face at Letha, but sat down. Meghan clambered onto his lap without asking. "Stay," she commanded him.

"Bossy."

Meghan nodded, grinning widely.

xXxXx

Hermione stepped carefully from stair to stair, trying to make sure they wouldn’t creak, and thought as she climbed. She had never been quite sure what she felt for Moony and Peri.

I love them a lot more than I think you should love grown-ups who are just friends and not your parents, or aunts and uncles. But then, I love Mrs. Letha like that too. So I guess they’re like aunts and uncles to me, since I don’t have any of my own.

She daydreamed occasionally about something happening to her parents—something not too bad, because she loved them very much, but something that would make them not able to take care of her anymore—and her needing another place to live, and going to live with Moony, or Moony and Peri if her daydream took place after Peri left Ray. This sometimes felt like ill-wishing her own family, but when she’d hesitantly told her mother about it, Mum had said not to worry.

"Every child wants to know what would happen to them if something happened to their family," she’d said, kissing Hermione. "You’re very lucky, Neenie love, because you have people who would love you and take good care of you if it was needed. Don’t feel bad about thinking or wondering."

I wish—I wish—

She was at the top of the stairs, and light came from a room down the hall. Step by careful step, she inched towards it, until she was up against the door, peering in through the crack between the hinges.

Peri lay on the bed, silent and still, with Moony kneeling beside her. His forehead was pressed to the back of one of her hands. Hermione’s imagination painted a long gown onto Peri, armor and a sword onto Moony, and she drew a breath of wonder before she could stop herself.

Moony lifted his head, looking around for the source of the sound. "Who’s there?" he said hoarsely. "Ray, is that you?"

"No, it’s me," Hermione said, pushing the door open. "I’m sorry I was spying. I shouldn’t have been."

"It’s all right." Moony beckoned her closer, and she came. "When did you get here?"

"Just now. Everyone else is downstairs." Hermione slipped herself between Moony and the bed and put an arm around his neck, looking at Peri. "I’m sorry," she said quietly. "I don’t want this to happen."

"No one does, Kitten." Moony held her close, and she felt his chest shake a little. "None of us."

"That’s why we came," Hermione murmured. "We found something out...it’s hard to explain, though, so we wanted to make sure we only had to do it once."

"Should I be worried?" Moony asked lightly.

"Maybe."

"All right, now I am worried." Moony set her on the floor and stood up, stretching his legs and making a face. "Cramps," he explained. "Let’s go downstairs and hear what you found out."

He looked back at Peri. "I’ll be back soon," he said quietly. "If you wake up, just call."

Hermione closed her eyes hard and hurried out of the room.

xXxXx

"You want to WHAT?" Sirius exploded.

"Just a second," Aletha said, holding up her hand before her husband could go any farther. "Don’t let’s yell at them yet."

"I still need another minute to process this," Remus said, shaking his head. "You want to attempt to speak to Harry’s mother?"

"It has the advantage of being logical," Aletha pointed out. "Lily set the curse, so Lily would know the curse. It might be the only way we could find out its exact wording."

"But there’s one enormous drawback to that," Sirius said, pounding the table lightly to emphasize his words. "Lily. Is. Dead."

"We know," said Harry. "But we’re perfect to go and talk to her. Look." He nodded to Hermione, who slid the book across to Sirius. "I have her blood, Meghan and Letha can Heal us, Neenie can dreamsculpt, and Ray is going to die soon. That’s what we need."

"Sounds like a set-up," Sirius said suspiciously, perusing the passage Hermione had pointed out. "Where’d you get this book?"

"No, it’s for real," Remus said, his voice sounding stronger. "I’ve studied that combination. There are other ways to contact the dead—a blood sacrifice at certain locations, séances if they’re properly done—but this is simple, doesn’t involve too much esoteric equipment, and not terribly dangerous."

"Not terribly dangerous?" Sirius slammed the book shut. "They want to die! Or go closer than any rational person should!"

"We don’t want Ray and Peri to die," Hermione said pleadingly. "This is a way we could help."

"And you’d have to help us," said Meghan earnestly. "We’d be very careful and always come back as soon as you called and not do anything we shouldn’t."

Sirius spluttered. Aletha ignored him for a moment, looking instead at Remus.

He isn’t sure if he should let himself hope yet or not. But this could mean everything—it could be exactly what we need—

Or it could be a disaster waiting to happen.

But if we do nothing, Ray and Peri will die.

"Define ‘not terribly dangerous,’" she said to Remus.

Sirius groaned. "Letha, not you too!"

The children sat up straighter, listening for all they were worth.

"If we are observant, there should be no way for the children to die while doing this," Remus said slowly, pulling the book away from Sirius and flipping it open to the table of contents. "The dreamsculpter—Neenie, that’s you?"

Hermione nodded.

"All right. Hermione, then, will set a landscape that will define our boundaries of life and death. Sirius, you described a beach with waves coming in. The beach was life, the water death. Right?"

"Yes, but—"

"Using that metaphor," Remus continued over Sirius, "we, the adults, would wait on the beach. The children would go into the water. We’d have ropes on them for safety, and some way to monitor how they were doing. If they seemed to be getting into trouble, we could pull them back. They would also come back by themselves when they needed air. As long as we’re watching them closely, there should be no way that they can get themselves into enough trouble to die."

"There should have been no way that a curse from Lily could be killing Malfoy’s nursemaid," Sirius countered. "Are you honestly willing to stake all their lives on a ‘should be’? Or are you just that desperate to get—"

"Stop that sentence right there, Sirius Black." Aletha was on her feet and around the table before she was consciously aware of deciding to move. "If you’re afraid of this, then say so. It doesn’t require your participation."

"It does require Harry’s," Sirius shot back. "There’s no way you’ll be able to get to Lily without him. And I’m his godfather, and I say he doesn’t do this."

"Hey!" Harry shot to his feet. "That’s not fair!"

"I’m not interested in fair," Sirius told him. "I’m interested in you living until Hogwarts age."

Harry clenched his fists. "Can I live with the Dursleys again?" he asked.

Aletha stifled a laugh at the look on Sirius’ face. "If that’s what you want to do," she said. "We’ll see about it first thing tomorrow morning."

"Good." Harry glared at Sirius, who was staring at him in astonishment. "They won’t stop me. They didn’t care what I did. I’ll stay with them until I’m all grown up if you won’t let me do this. Because if Ray dies, or Peri does, and I could have helped them and I didn’t, that’s wrong. And I’ll go and live with the Dursleys again if that’s the only way I can help them."

Sirius closed his mouth. "Is it just me, or is anyone else hearing Lily in this?" he said weakly.

Harry growled.

"I know you’re angry with her right now, Harry, but Sirius has a point," Remus said, waving Harry back into his seat. "This was what your mother was really like. Fierce when someone challenged her about something she thought was right."

"And willing to do things that she might not like," Aletha added, sitting down on the edge of the table. "Even things that might put her in harm’s way. Which drove your father up the wall, but in his saner moments, he had to admit he admired her for it. And so did we all." She gave Sirius a significant look.

Sirius slumped in his chair. "Give me a break," he said. "You always used to be telling me to grow up. Now that I think I’ve finally done it, you’re yelling at me for it?"

"Growing up isn’t just following the rules you used to ignore," Remus said, closing the book. "It’s knowing when to follow them and when to ignore them. And I think we have a situation here where ignoring is called for."

"Seconded," Aletha said.

"Do we get to vote?" Hermione asked.

"No," said Remus.

"Darn."

Everyone looked at Sirius.

He closed his eyes, then opened them. "You’re all mad," he said. "I just wanted to get that on record. All right. Yes. Let’s try it."

xXxXx

Ray ran, pressing a hand to his side to stop the pain, wincing as new pains erupted in his knees and hips with every step, but he couldn’t slow down. The monster was right behind him, and it would catch him if he slowed or stopped.

It’ll catch me anyway. The thoughts came in short bursts. It’ll catch me, and eat me, and I’ll die.

Peri lay a short distance away, blood seeping from her throat onto the ground. Moony stood watching, his face dull, his hands empty.

No one’s going to help me—no one can help me—

Something heavy landed on his feet, and he tripped and fell—

And came awake, gasping for breath, safe in his own bed at Moony’s house, with Meghan perched at the bottom of the bed, looking at him curiously. "You have a bad dream?" she asked.

"Sort of." Ray forced himself to breathe slowly and evenly, squeezing two handfuls of the covers in time with his breaths. "Sort of."

"I have good news." Meghan was grinning. "Do you want to hear it?"

"Yes, please."

"There might be a way to get you better," Meghan said, bouncing off the bed and rocking on her feet. "You and Peri both. We don’t know yet, but we think we know how to find out. And we need your help for it."

"Meghan, don’t tease."

"I’m not teasing!" Meghan stamped her foot. "We really can! We just have to talk to Harry’s mum!"

"Harry’s mum is dead."

"I know. That’s why we need you."

Ray put his head in his hands. "Start over," he said. "And use little words."

"We found out a way to talk to dead people," Meghan said, enunciating carefully as she might to a child even younger than herself. "It needs somebody who’s sick and might die themselves, like you, and a Healer like Mum and me, and somebody who can change dreams, like Neenie—"

"Wouldn’t mind being able to do that," Ray murmured.

"—and somebody who’s the same blood as the dead person you want to talk to, like Harry. And a grown-up wizard, or two wizards, who’re good at magic and can watch you to make sure you’ll be okay. Like my Dad and Moony." Meghan beamed. "So we can go talk to Harry’s mum and find out what the curse was she put on your father, and then Mum will know how to take it off, and then you and Peri will get well and everything will be all right again!"

Ray put his hand against Peri’s locket, lying cool on his chest. His heart was starting to speed up again.

I could get well. Peri could get well and marry Moony. We’d all be together. I’d go to Hogwarts after all, and grow up and be whatever I wanted to be. And Peri’d have the baby, and I’d have a little sister, or a brother—

We’d be a family. A real family.

"When can we do it?" he asked, looking up.

"Soon. Very soon." Meghan bounced some more. "Dad and Mum are getting ready for it right now. And Moony is helping Hermione think about it, and Harry’s waiting for us because he wants to talk to us about what we have to do."

"Where?"

"He’s right outside. Harry!"

Harry pushed the door open and came in, a large book in one arm. "Did she make sense?" he asked. "She didn’t, when I first heard about it."

"Did so!"

"She made sense," Ray said, folding his legs under him on the bed. "How are we doing it exactly, though?"

"It works through dreams. Neenie can change dreams, so she’ll get us to where we need to go. Then you and I have to work together." Harry set the book on the bed and flipped through the pages. "Two-twenty-eight, two-twenty-eight...here it is. Have a look."

Ray leaned over the book next to Harry. Meghan slipped under them and knelt down, frowning at some of the longer words. Her hand was warm where it rested on Ray’s.

I’m going to have a real family. And no curse is going to stop me.

xXxXx

"Can I just use the beach and the water?" Hermione asked, nestled comfortably against Moony on the couch in the living room. "I know what that should look like. Meghan likes to tell the story a lot. And it will make sure we don’t stay too long, because we’ll have to come up to breathe."

Moony nodded. "It will make it easy to keep track of you as well," he said. "You’ll wear harnesses with ropes, and we’ll hold the ropes. You won’t have long each time, though, and you’ll probably get tired quickly. Cold, too, if the water’s as chilly as Sirius says it is."

"We’ll move fast," Hermione said, closing her eyes the better to imagine that lonely, rocky beach. "We’ll need to." Moony’s arms were strong around her, holding her safe. "We’ll probably find her our first time down, then go back to actually talk to her the second time..."

xXxXx

"So there’s a part of me that’s different because I’m..." Ray didn’t want to say the word, but there wasn’t any way around it. "...dying?"

"That’s what the book says," Meghan said. "And Harry has to touch that part of you and think about a person who had that feeling and was his blood, and we’ll know which way to go to find his mum."

"You nervous?" Harry asked.

"Yeah." Ray shifted on the bed. "What if it doesn’t work? What if we get stuck there and can’t get back?"

"We won’t." Harry flattened his hand on the page, then popped it off. "Neenie can wake us up just like that if we start to feel like we’re stuck."

"But if she’s stuck too, she might not be strong enough. Then what?"

"Then the grown-ups pull us in."

"But what if they get tired too?"

"What if monkeys fly in the window and sing you ‘Happy Birthday’?" Harry countered. "Do you want to get better or don’t you?"

"Not if it means one of you has to die!"

"Stop it!" Meghan screeched, slamming the book shut and just missing Harry’s hand. "Nobody’s going to die, because—because—"

"Because you said so?" Ray suggested.

"Yes! Because I said so!"

"Well, that makes me feel much better." Ray grinned at her. "Now I know we’re going to be all right."

"That’s right," Harry said in the same tone. "Nobody is allowed to die when Meghan says they won’t."

Meghan nodded fiercely. "Dad didn’t," she said. "I saved him, with Mum. And I’m going to save you too, and Peri. I am."

"I believe you," Ray said.

And just for a moment, he did.

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Author Notes:

All right, not much happened, but you have to admit, we’re really set for it to happen next chapter. And you’d rather have it, right? Next chapter as soon as I can convince my muse not to run away every time I stand up to stretch...