A Love Without Time (Remus Lupin)

Forty-Four.

Minerva told us that the Made-Eye that had been teaching the students this year wasn't the Made-Eye that we knew. He was Barry Crouch Jr. He had kidnapped Alastor and had been using Polyjuice potion this entire time. He's the one who put Harry's name in the Goblet of Fire, and he's the one who has been stealing from Snape's personal store.
   
I would have loved to have gotten a crack at him, since he was part of the group of Death Eaters that murdered my brother.  But personal vendetta can wait for now. I had to go see Harry and see with my own eyes he was okay.
   
Remus and I got Lily from Molly and then headed to the Hospital Wing to visit Harry. When we got there, I saw a big black dog on his bed with him. I ran up to Harry and I hugged him. "Harry, sweetheart, how are you?"
   
"I'm a little shaken," he admits.
   
"It's alright, Harry. He can't get to you while you're here. You're safe here." I cup his face in my hands, "You're so brave, Harry dear. I am so unbelievably proud of your courage that you've shown all year. You've been truly outstanding."
   
"Thank you, Professor," I moved to the foot of the bed, and Sirius placed his head onto my lap and I stroked his furry head. Remus handed me Lily, and Sirius lifted his head up to look at her.
   
"This is Lily, Padfoot," I tell him, showing him the baby. "Can you believe Remus and I have a baby together?"
   
He sniffed Lily, then he licked her head then looked back up at me and licked my face. I think that was his way to tell me that he liked her. He laid his head in my lap again but this time he nudged my left hand, acknowledging the engagement ring.
   
"Oh yeah, it happened on my birthday, thanks by the way."
   
He looked at Remus, and Remus smiled at him, and patted his head and said, "Thanks Padfoot." The dog actually smiled, it was cute. I've never seen a dog actually smile before.

Ron and Hermione were in the room now, Molly and Bill traveling behind them. Molly looked so worried. I don't blame her, so was I. Molly also took Harry into her arms as soon as she reached him. I brought my attention back to Sirius again but then I heard my daughter's voice, "Mum!" She called as she ran into the Hospital Wing.
   
"Lyanna, over here, sweetie," I say, calling her over. She ran over to the bed. "Why aren't you at Gryffindor Tower?"
   
"I had to come see you before you left. I wanted to see how Harry was."
   
"He's okay, he's safe here," I assure her. She looks over to Harry in his bed. She hugs me tightly, but not too tight, since I am holding the baby.
   
"I love you, mum," she says as we hug.
   
"I love you, too, sweetheart," I tell her.
   
When we let go of each other, she looks over at Harry. "I'm glad you're okay Harry."
   
"Thanks, Lyanna," he says, his voice was weak.
   
She started to walk out of the Hospital Wing then, but she stopped when she got to Remus and she hugged him too. He looked a bit taken aback by this, but he did hug her back after a moment. She was really shaken up about what happened. She stepped back from Remus and wiped tears out of her eyes and said, "I should go hug George and tell him I love him," and then she ran off.
   
Sirius was watching her the entire time she was in the room, and I knew why. She looks just like her Aunt Marlene. I stroked his big dog head and whispered, "I know she looks just like her Aunt," He slumped his head back down into my lap, and I kept stroking his head comforting him. "Awe, I know, Padfoot, I miss her everyday, too."
   
I should go check on my son, see how he is doing and also let him know Harry is okay. Cedric was Bradley's Quidditch Captain. He's probably really hurting right now. I stood up and announced that I would be back, said goodbye and handed Lily off to Remus and then left after patting Padfoot on the head one more time. Dumbledore, Minister Fudge, and Snape were entering the Hospital Wing as I was exiting.
   
I headed out to the Hufflepuff Basement. I was surprised that when I got there, I found my son sitting up awake. He was the only person up in the Common Room. He looked at me and then he looked at his feet. As I started walking over to him he said, "I figured you would come check on me."
   
"Can you blame me? I am your mother, after all." I sat next to him, placing a hand onto his back. "I just wanted to tell you that Harry is safe and he's going to be okay. Also I wanted to see how you're holding up. Cedric was your Quidditch Captain. I know that this can't be easy for you, sweetie."
   
He folded his hands in his lap, keeping his blue eyes down at them. He didn't want to talk about this just yet. That was obvious to me. "We don't have to talk about it yet if you don't want to."
   
"It's not that," he says rather quickly in response. "It just...I don't know...it hasn't set in yet, I guess."
   
"That's okay, sometimes it doesn't straight away. But when it does, if you need to talk, I will be here for you, okay?" He nods, understanding. "Promise me you wont stay out here alone all night, alright? You get some sleep."
   
"I will," he assures me.
   
"Good, I should be getting back up to the Hospital Wing now, Remus is waiting for me and we need to get Lily to sleep for the night," I lean in to kiss his temple. "I love you, kid."
   
"I love you, too, mum."
   
We hugged for a moment before he went to bed and I left to go to the Hospital Wing. When I arrived there, Sirius wasn't in his dog form, oh no, he was in his human form, and he and Snape were nearly nose-to-nose. Dumbledore made them back down. He asked Remus and I if we would house Sirius while we got the Order of the Phoenix together again, to which of course we said yes without thinking about it.
   
We left to go home soon after that. I put Lily down for the night, and Sirius took a long, much needed, hot shower. We finally threw out his Azkaban rags, and Remus gave him some of his clothes to wear. Grateful wasn't the word to describe how Sirius felt, he was beyond it. We turned the couch into a bed for him to sleep on, and we slept for the night.
   
He looked so happy and full of life when I saw him again the next morning. He was sitting at the kitchen table, holding Lily, bottle feeding her, when I got to the kitchen. Remus was making tea at the kitchen counter. "Awe, look at you, Sirius." I say, sitting next to him.
   
"She's absolutely perfect, Ellie," he said as he smiled down at Lily. "Once again you did great."
   
"Isn't she just adorable?" I ask him, not really expecting an answer. "Everyone says she looks like me, but I think she looks like Remus."
   
"I hope not," Remus scoffed, as he placed the tea in front of us.
   
"Oh shut it," I say, "You know I think you're the most handsome man in the world."
   
He walks over to the table then, "You're the only one, darling."
   
I caress his face, softly. "That's all that matters, dear." He smiles, and kisses my head before he sits down. "I'm so glad you're out of those Azkaban rags, Sirius."
   
"I am, too, thank you. But I am afraid I cannot stay long. Buckbeak shouldn't be left alone for too long. He will cause attention. I'm going to set up my old family home as headquarters for the Order, you and your family will be welcome to stay there once it is all set up. They will be safe there."
   
"Thank you, Sirius," I told him. "Let us know when you're ready for us."
   
"I will," he assures me. "So, when is the wedding you guys? You know I wouldn't miss it for the world."
   
"Next month sometime, we don't have an exact date. It's not going to be anything fancy or big. I just want my kids and my mum there and some friends. Very small. We just need each other and the people we love most there, that's it."
   
"That sounds lovely. Possibly we could have it at headquarters. If Dumbledore accepts my offering of my old home as headquarters we can have it there. It would royally piss my mother off from beyond the grave. Which would make it even more of a reason to celebrate."
   
Sirius left a little bit after that, because he had to check on Buckbeak. He's grown fond of that Hippogriff since he's been the only company that he's had in the last year. He has taken great care of him all year and he cares about him now. It's very sweet.
   
The kids returned home when June ended, they both looked so sad after everything that happened. But on the bright side, Bradley was able to finally tell Walker that he wanted to be with him. He realized life was too short and he didn't want to waste it. I was proud of him for that. He knew he was going to get bullied for it, but neither he or Walker cared and that's all that mattered. I was proud of him for going after what he wanted.
   
Dumbledore did accept Sirius's offer, and The House of Black was made Headquarters for the new Order of the Phoenix. We had some brand new members, like Molly and Arthur and their older children. Bill was very active in the Order, and Charlie was working in Romania still he did consider himself part of the Order as well.
   
An eccentric young woman named Nymphadora Tonks, who is Charlie's age, that I taught at Hogwarts was a new Auror and joined the Order as well. She preferred to be called Tonks, she hates her first name and I never understood why. Her mother used to be known as Andromeda Black before she fell in love with a Muggle Born Wizard called Ted Tonks. She chose love over her crazy family's Pureblood values and was exiled for it. I sometimes catch her looking at Remus like she might fancy him, but Remus hasn't noticed her like that one bit. He's so oblivious sometimes.
   
We had The Order at our wedding, Sirius was the Best Man, Molly was my Maid of Honor. She had made me a very pretty white dress, and the kids all helped her make a fantastic dinner for the evening. It was small but it was absolutely perfect.
   
That night, at dinner, Sirius and Molly both said a few words. Sirius, in typical Sirius fashion, ended his little speech saying, "I love you both so much, and I promise you that we will all ignore any noises coming from your room tonight."
   
Remus laughed at that, and he wasn't the only one, either, but  I rolled my eyes. Molly wasn't a big fan of Sirius. She thinks he's a bit childish. She's grateful that he's keeping her family safe this 000summer, but other than that they don't exactly get along very well.
   
That night, George put on the stereo and we danced in the living room. I noticed my son head upstairs alone, so I decided to give it a minute and then follow him. I saw him head into the room he shared with Ron and I entered it after he did. "You don't want to dance tonight, sweetie?"
   
"Not really," he says as he sits on his bed. I sat next to him.
   
"Is something bothering you? You can tell me you know?" I asked.
   
"I was fine, and then everyone kept talking about how they always knew you were going to end up with Remus, and it got me thinking about dad."
   
"How so?"
   
"I just wonder if you two would still be together if he were still alive."
   
I nod, "I see. Well, sweetie, your father and I loved each other very much, but I have to be honest with you, I was only with him because Remus didn't want kids, and Matt did. He gave me what Remus refused to. And it was part of why I loved him, and yes, I do believe that if he were still alive that we would most likely still be together. He was a good husband and an even better father, and he was there for me when I needed him the most. I would not give that up unless I was forced to, like it ended up being. You can ask Sirius, he saw first hand how amazing your father was."
   
"Eh, he was surely annoying when we were in school," said a voice, it made me look up and I saw Sirius standing in the doorway. "Marlene hated him until she got older."
   
Bradley smiled, and Sirius stepped forward. "Your dad loved you so much, and it broke my heart to have to tell your mother he was gone. There's no doubt in my mind how much they loved each other, even if he annoyed your mother into dating her."
   
That made us both laugh. He was right in a way. Matt definitely annoyed me into dating him. I looked at my son and I tucked some of his hair behind his ear. His hair was longer and shaggy these days, like his dad used to wear it in the very late 70's.
   
"Your father is gone, but he's still here. You have his name, and I see him when I look at you."
   
"Do I act anything like him?" 
   
"Not entirely, you remind me more of my brother Archie."
   
Sirius smiled, "Your Uncle was one of the bravest Hufflepuffs that we knew in our time at Hogwarts."
   
"He wasn't too different from Cedric," I explained, which made Bradley smile. "Your father would be so proud of you and your sister. Just because I am remarried doesn't mean I have forgotten about him. I never will."
   
He hugged me then, and I hugged him back after a moment. "I love you, mum."
   
"I love you, too, darling."
   
"I'm happy that you're happy with Remus."
   
"Thank you, sweetie. It's all thanks to you. You know that."
   
"Well, I didn't write that letter to Remus to make him want to get back together with you. I just wanted him to feel bad."
   
"Well it worked," Sirius chuckled, "He felt terrible when he read that. You really let him have it. He deserved it though."
   
"He did," I agreed, "but he's made up for it thanks to you, darling." I kissed the top of my son's head and I stood up. "Come on, there's a party downstairs."

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Here's part 44!

They're married, and they have a baby!

Who'd have thought that would ever happen.

-Emily Winchester.