The Disgraced of the House of Black - A Multi-Character Fanfiction - Part Two

242. Crying the Night Before Christmas

Sadie was sitting on the floor of the Weasley's living room, deep in thought. She still hadn't gotten over being fired or 'let go' as they had insisted on calling it. Even so, there was something about the current atmosphere that soothed her anger, at least for a while. Beside her sat Althea, laying her head against her father's shoulder. She was either asleep or very close to it, for she was breathing deeply and had not moved for several minutes. On the other side of Remus, Eliana was sitting talking softly with him, their hands intertwined.

Arthur sat slightly in front of them, turned at an angle from them, and faced Fred, George, and Ginny who had started a game of Exploding Snap. Bill and Fleur were sitting together on the couch while Ron, who was sitting with Harry, kept sending them looks as though trying to pick up tips. Sadie looked away from them all down to the sleeping child in her arms. Minnie cooed slightly, shifting in her arms before falling back asleep.

Sadie could just hear Arthur say to Harry, "Sorry about this. Be over soon," referring to the broadcast Mrs Weasley had insisted they all listen to.

"No problem," Harry replied. "Has it been busy at the Ministry?"

Sadie's expression soured as she got up and left the room.

Softly, Arthur replied, "Very. I wouldn't mind if we were getting anywhere, but of the three arrests we've made in the last couple of months, I doubt that one of them is a genuine Death Eater - only don't repeat that, Harry." With a small sigh, he admitted, "Sadie can hardly stand any mention of the Ministry right now."

"Why?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Lost her job," Arthur replied, not noticing as Eliana and Remus quickly looked over, all conversation between them fading. "Apparently, the Ministry believes having a targeted person in their Auror office is an inconvenience they can't afford."

"That's mental," Harry said, shaking his head. "I mean, wasn't she pretty high in the ranks?"

"Just about as high as one can in only nine years," Arthur agreed. "I don't think that's what's made it so hard for her, though." At Harry's inquiring look, he sighed, admitting, "My sister always wanted to be an auror. Her husband comes from a long line of aurors, so naturally, they were quite drawn to one another. They married just after graduation. When my nephew Levi was in school, he studied to be an auror as well as Sadie and my other niece Shauna. Being an auror was the last connection she had to them."

Harry fell silent.

After hearing this quiet explanation, Remus and Eliana turned back to their own conversation.

"Is she asleep?" Eliana asked softly, her eyes fixed on Althea.

"I think so," Remus replied. "I almost feel I could fall asleep myself."

Eliana smiled slightly, gently brushing some of his graying hair out of his face as she said, "I've missed you, Remi."

"I've missed you too," Remus said softly, gently kissing her cheek.

Eliana hesitated a moment before she whispered, "I don't want you to go back."

"Ellie, I-" Remus began before he broke off. "We'll talk about this later, all right?"

She said nothing, simply rising to her feet and excusing herself. With a sigh, Remus too rose, careful to not awaken Althea as he carefully took her into his arms and carried her up the stairs and to the room the three of them were sharing. Once she was settled in her bed, Remus went back onto the landing where he knew Eliana was sitting.

Sitting down beside her, he said, "Ellie, I have a job to do. I can't just abandon it because-"

"Because what, Remus?" Eliana snapped, turning to fix her eyes on him.

"Because you're scared," he finished. Grabbing hold of her hands, he began, "Ellie-"

"No," she said, pulling her hands out of his grip and rising to her feet.

"Ellie, what exactly do you expect me to do?" Remus retorted, also rising. "I'm a werewolf! This is all I can do for the Order! There is nothing else! My role can't just be to-"

Her voice ringing, Eliana retorted, "Just what, Remus? Raise a child that isn't even mine? Give up my entire life to raise a child I never asked for? To spend my entire life raising children on my own! Because that has been my entire life, Remus! First with Althea and now with Minnie, and you want me to, what, just accept that you could just leave me again?"

"I never left you!" Remus shouted. "You abandoned me! You are the one who didn't even bother to tell me you were carrying my child!"

"You would have run anyway!" Eliana shouted back.

Remus instantly paled.

"That's not fair," he said quietly.

"Isn't it?" Eliana snapped. "You nearly ran just because of a few articles! Are you seriously telling me you wouldn't have left us? If you weren't desperate to be away from us, you would have actually made a real commitment to us, to me! You would have married me!"

"Ellie," Remus began as she pushed past him. "Ellie!"

"I'm going home for the night," she said coldly, disappearing down the stairs.

Remus stared after her a moment before he entered what had been intended as their shared space. Althea was oddly still, facing away from him. He could tell by a faint sniffling sound that she was crying and likely had heard everything. With a small sigh, he sat down on the edge of her bed.

"Althea," he said gently. "I know you're awake."

She rolled over slightly, quickly wiping at her eyes.

"How much did you hear?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Enough," she said softly, sitting up. Hesitating slightly, she asked, "Would you have actually left us?"

Remus swallowed, running a hand through his hair before he admitted, "In a moment of fear and weakness, yes, I pondered it, but Althea, please listen to me." She met his eyes as more and more tears poured from her own. "I love you and your mum more than anyone. I am not going anywhere."

"She talked about me like I was some...loathsome chore-" Althea began before she was cut off by a small sob.

Wrapping his arms around her, Remus whispered, "She didn't mean it, Althea. It was just hard for her, raising you alone. None of this has been easy on any of us."

Althea could not stop her tears as she clung to her father, crying the night before Christmas.