Jacob believed them immediately. She was surprised at how readily he understood their predicament and how willing he was to help them. From what she had studied, the last time the magical community came out to the muggles, there had been riots and revolts against the wizards and many of them were killed. Wizards and witches had hidden away after that, and Myra thought that muggles would carry the same ideology as they once had.
Apparently, the changes in the generations prevented that from happening. And she was more than happy about it.
Rookwood had not moved ever since they (Sirius) had tied her up. Myra was feeling a bit uneasy about her silence but, seeing as they had erased her memories, she didn't think that there should be anything wrong.
They parted ways with Jacob soon after. After making him swear that he wouldn't tell anyone (and telling him the possible consequences of that happening), James wanted to make him buy them some more sandwiches for making them lose their seat in the restaurant. Myra and Sirius managed to persuade him otherwise but he was adamant about Jacob buying them some sort of food.
"I'll make something at home and bring it over to your place. How does that sound?" At that, Sirius and Myra exchanged uneasy glances. He seemed to be following the same train of thought. No matter how kind James' parents were, she wasn't sure they wouldn't try to take the situation under their control even when they had already handled everything.
"It's fine!" Myra interjected while Sirius pulled James away. "I'll see you later, yeah?" Without waiting for an answer, she went back to the duo, who was untying Rookwood so that they could move her as if she had passed out. It was something she had picked up by watching muggle movies (James rather liked a series of movies based on a muggle, James Bond, who had gadgets that helped him be some sort of spy. She was afraid of what sort of ideas he would get from them).
They started walking back to the Potter mansion with Rookwood being supported between Sirius and James. Myra was in charge of making sure that no one tried to stop them because 'You're the best liar out of all of us and she's really heavy'. On the way, Myra quietly told them exactly what to do when they went back in.
"Once we go inside and if one of them asks us what happened, tell them that she had taken a muggle captive and we thought that we had to do something. We saved the muggle and erased his memories afterward. Okay?" She muttered and the other two nodded.
"And if they ask us any more questions that might make me or Sirius crack, you respond and we'll do our best to try not to look like we're hiding something," James let out a harsh sigh and adjusted his grip on the woman. "Knowing my mother, she will probe as much as she can so you'll have to do your best."
"But since it's concerning You-Know-Who, won't she want to report it to the Ministry?" Sirius asked as they walked onto an emptier road. "We three know that the Ministry's compromised now because Rookwood's got an inability of keeping important secrets secret."
"But that helps us," Myra pointed out, "But I see where you're going. Honestly, I don't know. Maybe we can have someone go through our memories and pick it out."
Sirius shook his head. "No, they'd just think we altered it. Rookwood's a pretty big name in the Ministry and they won't believe us if we show them our memories." Myra was about to respond when James spoke.
"Lad and laddie," He stopped for a moment and she watched him go through his pocket and pull out an oversized grey box with switches on the sides. "I recorded the conversation."
"What is that?" Sirius asked, almost offended. "It looks ghastly." James rolled his eyes.
"It's a recorder. Muggles invented it. It's supposed to record things on the television but I modified it to record conversations, thinking that I could use it for planning pranks. I recorded all the stuff she said." James pressed one of the buttons on the side and she could hear a faint whirring. She could hear snippets of the conversation she had played over and over in her head with the smallest sounds of rustling as she supposed James moved closer to them.
"The Ministry still won't buy it," Myra said, disappointed. "It's a muggle contraption. They don't believe anything to do with them."
They lapsed into a silent pause as James put his recorder back into his pocket. They started walking again when Sirius let out an exclamation.
"We could send it to Dumbledore!" He said happily and Myra felt herself frown. "We can write to him about all that happened and send this with the letter and he could listen to it. Then he'd do something about it."
"Great idea, Pads!" James clearly shared his excitement and didn't notice how Myra was biting her lip and looking away from the pair.
She didn't speak much as they continued the journey home. Sirius and James chatted nonchalantly, acting as if Rookwood was their sister who had had too much drink and passed out. Myra had to speak up to questioning strangers who didn't believe them and they soon passed by.
All the while, Myra wasn't sure how the 'Dumbledore' plan would work out. She remembered how, back in her fifth year, she had met with Dumbledore and asked to see his pensive. She remembered the memories she experienced and she had to constantly glance up at James and Sirius to make sure that she didn't lose herself in her memories.
She remembered how she couldn't think of anything except memories of the dungeon and she remembered wondering if Dumbledore was the reason behind it. She remembered how she wondered if he had wanted proof of the torture and how, as she was laying on the ground, he had said 'A terrible mistake on my part'. It was as if he planned on taking her into the pensive but didn't her reaction to be so severe.
These thoughts made her afraid of what Dumbledore would do once he heard their conversation.
∞-∞-∞
As suspected, Aunt Euphemia was aghast and horribly worried about their ordeal and, as planned, Myra answered her most probing questions while James and Sirius nodded along.
They had put Rookwood in one of the guest bedrooms with a lock and Uncle Monty was keeping a watch over her in case she woke up and in case the memory-erasing spell hadn't worked. Aunt Euphemia was taking care of them, making sure that they all took a hot shower while she was preparing some food for them.
As Myra showered and dressed in her new clothes, she constantly wondered about what Rookwood had meant when she said 'He thinks that you've got some really magical blood that might help him win'. What magical blood? The only magical blood she had was from her mother, who was related to Uncle Monty, who passed on his magical blood to James. That would mean that James had the same blood as her. But You-Know-Who was, as of now, targeting her.
Why her?
How she wished Remus was here to help her sort through the thoughts in her head.
So far, she was glad that he was using most of his resources elsewhere and not focused entirely on her. It would be very dangerous for everyone she knew if You-Know-Who was dead-set on her.
When Myra went back downstairs, she was surprised to hear some parts of the conversation between Aunt Euphemia and a boy she was thinking about just minutes prior.
"Myra!" She heard him exclaim as he dashed towards her and enveloped her in a much-needed hug. "James' mum was telling me about what happened. I can't believe that you managed to take on a death eater and survive. And..."
Myra didn't listen much to what he said after. She just closed her eyes and relaxed in his warmth. Eventually, he seemed to realize that she wasn't listening because he stopped talking, just kept his arms around her, and occasionally ran his fingers through her hair.
After some time, she noticed a dull ache in her legs and thought that Remus would want to sit, especially after he just came home.
"Hey, why don't you sit down?" She asked, looking up at him. "You must be tired and I have to ask Aunt Euphemia if she has enough food for all of us." Remus smiled and kissed the top of her head.
"Yeah, okay. But if she needs help making the food, tell me."
∞-∞-∞
The events of the day still hadn't left her mind after dinner. It hadn't left her mind when she went upstairs to go to bed. It hadn't left her mind while she laid down in her bed. All she could think about was Rookwood's words repeated over and over again.
'He told me that he doesn't think that they were worth much, within his higher ranks. That's why he didn't get them out of Azkaban. He can do that, you know?'
'You shouldn't worry about that.'
'A lot of things are prepared for you.'
'How could you not join? You're perfect for our ranks.'
'They said that you were being the Potters' whore but I didn't believe it.'
'All your parents could ever talk about was how much of a disgrace you were, and how worthless you are.'
Her thoughts focused on the last one, swirled around it, centered it. She wondered how much the Lestranges told them. Did they tell them that she wasn't actually their child? Did they tell them that they killed her mother and father?
Did they tell them about how much trauma I went through?
Did they tell them about the torture?
Did they tell them about-
Did they tell them-
Did they tell-
Did they-
Did-
Why am I worrying so much? They can't hurt me.
You say that now but what about the future? You can't be so dependant on your aunt and uncle. You can't rely on the safety of Hogwarts forever. You can't depend on anyone. In the end, it's only you. It will always be you against the world.
That's not right. It will always be me and Remus against the world.
So you think that he actually cares for you? Do you think that this relationship is more than a school crush? Do you think that this will actually go anywhere? Do you think, in some strange fantasy of yours, that he will take you away and your two will live together forever?
I mean, that's the plan.
What an idiot you are. You can't even see that he doesn't think that it's going to go further. It's so obvious and yet, you're absolutely blind to it.
What am I blind to? He said that he likes me.
You've been together for almost a year and he hasn't said 'I love you'. What kind of relationship is that? You haven't even discussed your future together and you think that this is going to last? Why do you think he's waiting? Because he knows that he wants to break up with you. And-
You can just shut up.
By now, even though she tried to stop it, the doubts about her relationship were starting to trickle in. She hated listening to the voice. The voice had been gone for so long, she thought that it wouldn't come back. She was so happy, she was so ignorant.
And now it was back.
Myra turned onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. James and Aunt Euphemia had plans of painting it for her but she told them 'no'. She wanted to paint it herself. She didn't know what to paint.
She was sure the idea would come to her at some point.
Why would you get an idea? You're not even good at art.
I said shut up.
She turned to her side and tried to blink away the tears. She didn't want them to fall. Even though she was alone in her room, even though there was no one else to see her tears, there was always her and her voice who would know of her weakness.
Of course, I would know your weakness. There are so many, who would not know.
"I said shut up!" Myra hissed, tightening her fists around the cloth of the pillow, the tears falling despite her efforts. She blinked rapidly and harshly wiped them away.
"Myra?" A beam of light fell onto her face and quickly wiped away the rest of her tears. In the doorway, she saw the silhouette of Remus with a pillow in his hand and his hand to his hair, trying to press so the ends that were sticking up.
He's cute.
"Is everything alright?" She nodded, sitting up in her bed.
"What about you? What's wrong?" He looked mildly alarmed.
"No, I just thought that you would be asleep by now since it's already one." She tried to hide her surprise. I didn't mean to stay up for so long.
"And I wanted to sleep here," Remus mumbled quietly, shifting his stance awkwardly. She had to bite back the small smile before she patted the space beside her.
"I mean, there's a lot of space on the bed. You can sleep here if you want and I'll go downstairs." Myra could see the smallest blush on his cheeks as he closed the door and plunged the rook into darkness again.
"I meant I wanted to..." He rubbed the back of his neck and it was now her turn to blush.
"That's fine, as well." Her voice grew faint as he heard the bed and sat on the opposite side. Myra was glad that she wore longer pajamas this time.
She laid down with her back facing Remus. She wanted to make sure that he had enough space. She knew that she had a habit of sprawling around while she slept and she didn't want to accidentally hit Remus with a stray limb. However, surprisingly, she heard a whisper behind her ear.
"Is it okay if I hug you while I sleep?" He asked and Myra could sense how close he was. She could feel his breath against her neck and could smell the faint traces of cologne on him.
"Yes, it's fine." Myra turned around and looked into his eyes. "I might accidentally hit you during the night, so I apologize in advance." Remus chuckled and his breath tickled her face.
"That's fine."
As Remus carefully put his arm around her and she moved a bit closer to him, the thoughts she had before rose in her mind like a wave and threatened to drown her again. She pressed herself closer to Remus and took a deep breath in.
"Remus?" She whispered softly and she doubted that he could hear her.
"Yeah?"
"Where do you think this is going?" Myra wasn't sure if it was a good idea to ask him that. She knew that she was only asking this because of the voice and she knew she wasn't asking because she wanted to. That was what made her feel guilty, that she didn't think to ask it for her benefit before.
"As in the relationship?" Remus asked and she hummed in response. "Well, we haven't even been a year into the relationship and-"
"It's too early to think of this. That's what I thought. I'm sorry I asked. I didn't mean to." Remus curled his fingers around her as he protested and she could hear his heartbeat speed up.
"No, no. That's not what I was going to say. I was going to say... this is embarrassing," His voice lowered as he muttered hurriedly. "I was going to say that I already know I want to marry you."
"Oh."
∞-∞-∞
The setting is a house on the outskirts of a small town. Normally, the house would be small and attract little attention, other than those looking at it to buy off the land and build an amusement park. However, this house was abnormally large, clearly belonging to someone with large amounts of wealth stored away. A tall, wrought iron gate surrounded the grounds with a gate in the front.
Now, most people wouldn't be able to see the house. That, in itself, suggested that its occupants were far from normal. Every now and then, a figure clad in long, dark robes would emerge from the house, step beyond the gate, and disappear into thin air.
The first floor was normally filled with people bustling about, going this way and that, and often yelling at each other. They were all dressed in similar clothing of black cloth and they all wore masks. On the second floor, the more important figures stayed and they exchanged a few pleasantries now and then.
The third floor is where people rarely stayed. Ten people always went to the top floor for only twenty minutes at a time before coming back down. Only the residents of the house knew what stayed on the top floor. Many of them were terrified of what dwelt there, some were respectful, and the remaining few were boastful, happily talking about how the top-floor resident addressed them and how they were due to move up the ranks.
This particular day was a bad one. Physical fights were breaking out on the ground floor, the second floor was distinctly ignoring each other and only one person had gone to the third floor.
He had yet to come back.
"My lord, we have received word about Rookwood."
In the round window, stood a pale white figure, twirling a stick between his long fingers. One would think of them as elegant if they didn't know who it was.
"And?" The voice was like water over coarse stones. At first, it would seem soothing, but if you get closer, it grows rough and dangerous.
"She was compromised." At the eery silence, the man continued to speak. "We don't know where she is but she hasn't returned from her mission. We haven't gotten any information on the Lestrange girl-"
"It is the Potter girl. Potter. How many times must I repeat it?" The man gulped and continued.
"Right. I apologize, my lord. We haven't gotten any information on the Potter girl using underage magic so she must have gotten one of her friends to do it for her. We have some members around the area to try and find Rookwood but they haven't found her yet."
The figure turned around and looked straight into the man's eyes.
"Forget her. She was a hindrance anyway, always wanting the extra attention. She was rather unstrategic anyway. Tell them to come back and we'll start planning the next raid."
The man nodded, bowing low.
"And tell Snape to keep a watch out for her in Hogwarts."
"Yes, my lord."
"You may leave now, Lucius." Lucius stood straight and turned around, briskly walking from the room. The figure turned back to the window and glanced up at the pale grey clouds above him. In the distance, he could see the slightest flash of lightning and grimly smiled.
"Miss Potter, you will join us before the year is over."
---
Wo—
Question of the day: What is your favorite place to relax? ✨
💘 ❤️ ❣️ 💝 💖 💕 💗 💞 💓