NEPENTHE ⟶ James Potter

Chapter Seventy-Two

So, he turned to the one and only, Molly Weasley, for comfort and reassurance.

When he returned home, James found that everyone was upset by the news, not that he could really blame them. He was even more upset than he let on, he was just attempting to keep a brave face for Harry's sake, as well as Sirius, who was trying to do the same for him.

"You know, if it's too much for the two of you, you don't have to stay there, James," Molly said as she took to sitting next to him. She followed James' gaze to where he watched Harry playing with Ginny. She was on the floor as Harry dangled a toy over her head, making her laugh hysterically, while Ron made all sorts of huffing noises because Harry wasn't playing with him.

"Renata won't hold it against you if you leave early and you know that," she continued, having him finally look up at her. "She only wants the best for you and Harry, so if it's too much the first time you bring Harry, then leave."

"Right, you're right," he nodded, " I just don't like leaving her there. I just want her to wake up and come home. And I know as soon as Harry sees her, he's going to want the same thing. But I hate watching him pace around at home because he can't find her."

"Well, Harry won't understand everything that is happening but as long as you reassure him that Renata is fine, I think he'll be alright. He's a strong and incredibly smart boy. You can have him talk to her just like you do. Of course, he can't string words together like you can, but it might help."

"She hasn't reacted to me talking to her," James said, "I just pretend that she can hear me."

"It very well might be that she can hear you," Molly said in an optimistic tone, " maybe she can't respond, but it doesn't mean she can't hear you. So, I bet hearing you and Harry will make her extremely happy. It doesn't hurt to try."

Every day, Renata made it a point to return to the fields where she had first met the Romanian Longhorn that wore glasses and spoke like James. She still wasn't sure what the dragon represented, but every day, she was coming closer to the conclusion that she wasn't in the afterlife, that what she was experiencing was something completely different. Harry would join her, but sometimes, he wouldn't talk or interact with her, he would just sit there as the dragon spoke to Renata.

But when the dragon was finished talking, Harry would grab her hand and lead her away until the dragon vanished from the field. Each visit with the dragon, he wouldn't respond to what she said to him, he would talk like she was there, but never truly interact with her. All of his words were words of comfort, always telling her that things were going to be alright. He would tell her that Harry was looking for her, which confused her greatly because Harry was always sitting next to her in the presence of the dragon.

However, she couldn't ask the dragon any questions because he never responded to them, which always left her feeling incredibly frustrated. And to make matters worse, not everything was so pleasant in the afterlife, as she had to live through horrible images of what seemed to be memories stemmed from her childhood and adolescence. She didn't remember any of what she saw, but thinking that her mind was free from the effects of her mother's ways, she was getting a heavy dose of them.

One of the memories involved her walking down the hallway of her home as she heard Adelmo crying from one of the rooms. She had tiptoed all the way to where his bedroom door was cracked open, only to see him on the floor, writhing around in pain while their father stood over him with his wand pointed right at him. He could only be around nine years old at the time and if Renata assumed correctly, he was suffering the affects of the Cruciatus Curse.

She was about to storm into the room and demand that her father stop and help her brother, only to have a firm hand grab her shoulder roughly, yanking her back. She came face to face with her mother, who did not look pleased to catch her spying on Adelmo's punishment.