"You're getting better at that!" Ron complemented Salem loudly as he looked at her under the tint, the two helping the others raise it. Salem smiled widely, far to distracted by Ron's complement to pay attention to the tint she was raise with her ability.
That was until it flipped over on the Weasleys.
"Merlin, Ronald!" Salem shouted as she ran over, pulling parts of the tint until she came across Ron's face, looking up at her in disbelief.
"Bloody hell, that's the last time i'll ever complement you, swear on it." he said as Salem snorted and helped him to his feet before deciding it was best for her not to raise it again and instead stop back and watched.
"Bloody hell, what's the Minister Of Magic doing here?" Fred said after it was risen, seeing a long haired man walked toward them.
"Do what do we owe the pleaser, minister?" Harry asked the man in the empty burrow now aside for the ones he'd asked to see.
"I think we both know the answer to that question, Mr.Potter." the Minister said as he stared over at the newly suited boy.
"Well, I do not so if someone would care to elaborate..." Salem trailed off as the minister slowly turned to look at her with a blink, Harry giving her a look from across the kitchen.
They all took a seat in the small living room, smooshing together on the small couch that had a bit of blood stain from George's ear. The Minister laid a brown cloth onto the table, confusing all of them as the silents nipped at their ears, "And this is..."
"Heren is set forth the last will and testament of Albus Percival Wulfreic Brian Dumbledore. First, to Ronald Bilius Weasley." the minister read from the floating paper, Ron reddening in the face at the mention of his middle name, "I leave my deluminator, a device of my own making. In the hope that, when things seem most dark, it will show him the light."
Ron along with the other three examined the small device that was passed to Ron, small yet beautiful and vintage.
"Dumbledore left this for me?" Ron asked with a shocked expression, holding the small wooden device in his hand as the Minister of magic gave him a nod, "Brilliant."
"What is it?" Ron asked, flipping the top off as the light from the lamp in the corner suddenly went off, pulling a small ball of bright light back to Ron's device.
"Wicked." Salem said as she watched him open it again, the light going back to the lamp.
"To Salem Alphabeta Cherry Tart Slughorn-" the Minister of Magic began as Salem cringed and shut her eyes at the name.
"As if Slughorn wasn't bad enough." Ron said as Hermione smacked him but hide her laugh.
"Cherry Tart?" the Granger girl asked as she looked over at Salem who forced a smile.
"It was my dads favorite." she spoke with a red face while catching Harry trying to hide a smile. Turning back to the Minister he held out a small locket, a circle with a shiny middle, a tiny heart shaped in the middle.
"Well... what is that?" Harry asked confused as he'd never seen of the sort.
"For a girl I hadn't known long, for hopes she'll always find her way back home." The Minister read as Salem held it in her hands.
"I've seen it before... I can't quite remember where but I have." Salem spoke as she held it in her hand before turning to Ron. He gave her a crazy look when she pressed the charm against his heart for a few seconds before taking off in a sprint out of the burrow.
"What's she on about?" Harry asked before he jumped when Salem suddenly appeared infront of them again, falling on the couch in a tumble next to Ron.
"How'd you do that?" Hermione asked with wide eyes and a hand over her heart.
"It's The Heartbeat Charm, as long as you record someone's heart, you'll be able to get to them if you have it." Salem spoke, unaware how she knew such a thing but did anyways, "Dumbledore must have known I tend to wonder off."
"An understatement." Hermione spoke before the Minister cleared his throat.
"To Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of the Tales Of Beetle The Bard, in the hope that she find it entertaining and instructive." he read before passing her the older book that Ron lit up at.
"Mum use to read me those." he grinned down at the book, "The Wizard And The Hopping Pot."
"Hopping Pot?" Salem questioned with a frown of her recently, grown and larger then usual, eyebrows.
"Yeah. Babbitty Rabbitty And The Cackling Stump." Ron laughed before he saw the three confused and lost faces peering at him, "Oh, come on. Babbity Rabbity? No?"
"My parents are muggles." Hermione pointed out to him with a frown of her eyebrows.
"Mine are dead." Harry added in to the redhead boy.
"And mine only ever read to be able how to chock people until they left you alone." Salem spoke as the three looks at her again, "A violent mother I had... scared father."
"To Harry James Potter, I leave the snitch he caught in his very first quidditch match at Hogwarts." the man read before laying the small gold snitch into the Potter boys pale palms, "As a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill."
"Is that it, then?" Harry spoke after a moment of looking at the gold snitch in his hand, memories clouding his shiny and bright eyes.
"Not quite. Dumbledore left you a second bequest... the sword of Godric Gryffindor." the Minister read as Salem's dark and stormy eyes widened.
"To think I ever felt insecure about being Gryffindor." she shook her head while slapping Harry's back in achievement.
"Unfortunately, the sword of Gryffindor was not Dumbledores to give away. As an important historical artifact, it belongs-" the Minister began over Salem's interruption before he was once caught off again by the only other woman in the room.
"To Harry." Hermione spoke with a knowing look, "It belongs to Harry. It came to him when he most needed it in the Chamber Of Secrets."
"The sword may present itself to any worthy Gryffindor, Miss Granger. That does not make it that wizards property. And any event, the current whereabouts of the sword are unknown." The Minister spoke to her in a strict tone of voice as Hermione slouched down again with a slight redness to her ears.
"Excuse me?" Harry question, confused as to the last sentence.
"Taken?" Salem asked, not being able to help her mind race, maybe it was connected with Draco in some way... though she seriously doubted he'd have anything to do with a Gryffindor token... she had been the only Gryffindor thing he seems to tolerate.
"The sword is missing. I don't know what you're up to, Mr.Potter, but you can't fight this war on your own." the minister spoke as Salem narrowed her eyes and sat up better.
"Who said anything about being alone?" she asked as the long haired man stared at her for a moment, the same way everyone stared at her went she so much as held a trait her mother once did.
Salem went with green for the evening. A green dress she was gifted by Narcissa after her one and only visit to the Malfoy Manor a little over six months ago now. It still fit her, though it was a tad tighter around the waist but Salem didn't mind the snug. It went well with her mothers necklace and the new crystal that hung around her neck, tucked away in the dress to prevent anyone from seeing it. Salem smiled at the sight of Bill and Fleur, the wedding nothing but beautiful.
"Weddings." a voice spoke up from behind her as Salem turned, "They make everyone either sad or joyful, agree?"
"Agree more then you'd ever know." Salem smiled at Remus as she nodded for him to join her at the small and empty table, "I use to love wedding but now they only remind me of love and I can't say that provides me loads of comfort anymore."
"I was like that for a bit." Remus spoke to her with a nod of his head, "Use to love them, all through school. Then right at the end of seventh year they put a damper on my life, hated em every sense then."
"How come?" Salem asked, watching the man give a sad smile as he tried not to meet her dark eyes.
"A woman." he spoke with a small nod, giving her a forced grin, "We didn't work out how I imagined we would, though I shouldn't have been so gullible, I suppose. Nearly impossible we could, our worlds were very different."
"So you gave up?" Salem asked, putting her full attention on the man she'd never had a true conversation with, mainly because he seemed to avoid her at all cost.
"Not me, no, but she did.. to keep me safe, of course." Remus nodded as Salem watched his facial expressions closely, "Oh, I adored everything about her and promised her nothing she could ever do could ever hurt me. But, she was a smart and dangerous woman, she couldn't involve me in the life she had chose. So, instead she was the one to let me go in the end. Was difficult for the both of us, she'd deny it but I saw the look in her eyes.. I knew it, i've seen it millions of times before."
"What happened after that? You never spoke to her again?" Salem went on in questioning, not trying to pry but Remus and his mysterious sixth and seventh year lover had very much reminded her of herself and Draco.
"Well... after that she chose the man that could help her escape the magic world. Took her far away from here, the only man that ever could where they soon fell in love and had a child. While at times she'd owl me, only every six months just to check in." Remus went on as he finally met Salem's forbidden forest eyes, "And well I didn't move on until just a few years ago, when I met Tonks, you've met her."
"I have." Salem spoke, a sad look on her face as she gave a small smile, "Lovely woman."
"Isn't she?" Remus asked, looking away as Salem saw the flash of sadness and pain swarming within his pupils.
"Very similar, i'd say, in many ways." Salem spoke as Remus gave her a small bit of confusing looks, "The woman from before and Tonks... both very fiery and worth looking up to."
"You know, you've caught on." Remus spoke, not expecting Salem of all people to know who he'd been speaking of.
"Well... i've always been good at math and this adds up." Salem spoke as her minds raced, "My mother use to speak of a man when I was young, one they taught her many things and opened her eyes to the goodness, someone she loved... she never once spoke of my father that way."
"That man was you." Salem finished her speech as she stared at Remus, both their eyes sad as he gave her a sad smile and a nod, Salem grabbing his hand.
"You have to know, she didn't h-" Salem began before Remus cut her off with a shake of his head and a small squeeze to her hand.
"I know she did." he spoke sadly, "When I heard of her and your fathers death...."
"Has anyone told you what happened?" Salem asked, the topic touchy but she knew that if she was in Remus situation, if someone knew what happened to Draco... she'd want to know.
"Oh no, i'm afraid your grandfather hadn't spoken a word." Remus shook his head as he pulled his hand from Salem's before she caught it again and stared him in the eye, the dark orbs glossed over under the lights on the large tint.
"It wasn't her fault, truly. My mother was a sad woman, she had no light or happiness a few weeks before they passed." Salem spoke sadly as she looked down, "I didn't know until recently but she'd tried to leave the death eaters, tried to get all of us back to normal. They sucked the happiness out of her, sent her back home barely a vegetable and lifeless."
Remus shut his eyes as Salem's voice cracked, for her sake along with His and Emilias.
"My fathers and I didn't know what had happened, we tried so hard to make her happy again but nothing was working... all she could do was sit there, staring and mumbling under her breath." Salem paused, a small breath being taken in at the story she hadn't told anyone for years now, "We lived near a cliff, alone and isolated. One day she just... walking off it, so peacefully and out of no where. My father saw it happen, right in front of him. Drove him mad, he'd turned into just as she did before she... you know. So then the next day he just.."
"Did the same." Remus finished for her as Salem let out a small sob as she looked into her lab and nodded, her hand still in his and he gripped it back.
"You listen to me." he demanded while grabbing her shoulders for her to look back up as him, "You were a child, thirteen years of age. You should have never experienced that but there's nothing we could do about it now... you're strong, and brave. You're smart and kind and no one should have ever had to experience what you did... no one has ever been such a lovely flower as you are while carrying that on their back."
"A lovely flower." Salem mocked his words with a laugh, rubbing her watery eyes as she sniffled.
"A very lovely flower." he said while whipping her face once more, "Now... no more sad flowers, go bloom with your friends, give your parents something to smile about."
"Remus?" Salem questioned as she stood to her feet before looking down and him again.
"Yes, what is it?" he asked while looking up at her.
"My mother did love you, she never loved anyone, sometimes I question if she truly loved me... but you she did, the only person she had ever loved." Salem finished her small sentence before she walked off to join Luna, hugging her and her father tightly like she had many times sense Draco's disappearance... feeling much closer to him when she did so.
Only a few moments later the sudden bright blue crystal shot in the middle of the wedding, speaking of how "they are coming" over and over. This put a panic on the wedding, a large panic that began to rush everyone away.
"Who's coming? Hey! Who?" Salem asked, Luna pulling her away from the crystal ball quickly before the two for lost within the crowd together.
Death Eaters.
They were everywhere suddenly.
Fire was set to the tint, yells and screams were heard from around everyone. Salem lost sight of Luna, lost sight of Harry she had her eye on just a moment ago. She scanned each of the death eaters faces quickly, watching them as she hoped the familiar shade of blonde would show within one of them.
"Salem! Salem!" she heard someone yell, turning she saw Hermione waving her over. Salem tried to hurry through the crowd, pushing through people who were zapped by death eaters or trying to escape. Salem grunted as she was knocked onto the ground by someone pushing through, standing again she had no longer seen Hermione and Ron... nor was Harry anywhere.
"Hermione!" she yelled in agony, rushing toward were she once was, "Ron! Harry!"
Salem had no time to panic before she felt arms pulling away out of the tint and to safety, in the field and under the grass.
Ginny Weasley, it was.
•
kylie speaks.
should i
make a spin off
for Emilia and
Remus?
Also...
i didn't want
to ruin the "golden
trio" vibe but
Salem will be
joining them in the
next chapter but
it's later on,
like a time skip!