Tested In Fire

This was going to be the chapter where Remus and Anna finally tied the knot. Sadly, it didn't work out that way. You'll have to hang on for one more chapter! By the way, this chapter is dedicated to the dreamers that I know.

Chapter 25: December Dreams

December approached much more rapidly than anyone would have liked. There didn't seem to be enough time for Remus and Anna to finalize their weeding plans, and the teachers piled on more homework for the students to get done. Even Hermione was feeling the pressure.

"Oh drat!"

Ron raised his eyebrows at Hermione's use of strong (for her) language. "What's wrong?"

"It's just this Arthimancy essay, and I'm working on that spell, and I'm afraid that my brain doesn't work anymore."

Ron threw back his head and laughed. "I think your brain still works, Hermione." He dropped a kiss on top of her head. "When it doesn't, the world will be in sad shape."

Hermione smiled, pulled him down so that she could whisper in his ear. "I know a certain person who revels in getting me to not think."

"Ah, but that's different than your brain not working. It still does when I do those things, it's just temporarily bogged down."

She giggled, feeling some of the pressure leave her already. Ron could do that for her.

"I will get it right," she muttered, and sighed in pleasure when Ron began to knead her shoulders.

"What's so horrible about it?"

"It just doesn't follow logic, Ron. I've tried different combinations, and nothing works, and oh, it's driving me crazy!"

"Hermione, how would you like to come to The Burrow for Christmas?"

"What? Why?"

Ron sighed, sat down carefully so as not to agitate his leg. "Bill and Charlie are going to be there, and Perce will be taking the day off of the Ministry for a change. The fact is, the only ones who have seen me with this bloody..."

"Ron!"

"...Leg will be you, Ginny, Mum and Dad. Hermione, I'd really like to have you there."

She thought about it for a moment. "I'll owl Mum and Dad and see."

Ron grinned. "Do you really want to come?"

"Of course!"

"I thought that this letter I sent off to your parents would be part of your Christmas gift. It says here that you can come with me for the first week and a half of break, through Christmas Eve, then we'll join your parents for Christmas Day and we'll ring in the New Year at a party at The Burrow."

Harry and Ginny tramped through the common room door, cheeks rosy and hair tousled, with snowflakes decorating their cloaks.

Harry took both of their cloaks and shook them firmly before the fire, then ran a hand through his hair. Ginny watched in amusement.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked casually, when they both seemed to be settled. Hermione shot him a look. He nearly shuddered, but managed to hold back.

"We were out by the lake, if you must know," Harry gasped, recovering.

"We were having a snowball fight," Ginny managed.

"She won," Harry filled them in, "but only because she cheats."

"Do not!"

Harry merely shrugged. "Whatever you want to believe."

Ron grinned. "I've lived with her for a number of years, Harry, and I will tell you this. She most certainly does to cheat, but only because she had to."

"See," Ginny started, and then realized that Ron wasn't being exactly complimentary. "Well, with a set of brothers like Fred and George, what do you expect?"

"A strong survival instinct," Hermione said, agreeing.

"Everything all ready to go for your trip to The Burrow?" Ron asked Harry, his eyes mischievous.

"I've cleared everything with Dumbledore. We should be good to go. I won't be able to ride the train with everyone, but I'll see you there."

"Good," Ron announced, his face glowing with anticipation. "Maybe you can help us work out who Fred and George's mysterious investor is. We've been trying to get it right for a year now, and no one has been able to guess. I wonder what they've come up with now?" His voice trailed off as he imagined all sorts of fantastic things. "Wouldn't it be great if they could come up with something that would turn Malfoy into a ferret forever?"

Hermione shook her head. "Most certainly not."

Ginny giggled. "Just imagine the debacle if the wrong person got a hold of it, though. Everyone who made them mad would be ferrets."

"Fred and George are probably the wrong people to have that sort of power," Harry agreed, "though I'm quite sure they wouldn't turn anyone into a ferret that didn't deserve it."

Ginny's eyes danced. "But it is nice, just to think of it... Malfoy as a ferret."

Hermione laughed. "That's Ron's fondest memory."

"Mine, as well," Harry said, and the two boys exchanged a nostalgic glance.

"Oh for heaven's sake," the two girls chorused, and then all four collapsed into laughter.

Ron turned to Ginny. "Hermione will be spending part of Christmas vacation with us, and then we'll spend the rest at her parents' house."

Ginny clapped her hands excitedly. "You can share my room again, Hermione."

Harry grinned, and was about to comment that he was going to be sad that he was going to miss it, but then realized he couldn't. Ron, Hermione and Ginny already knew about his plans, of course, but part of his safety was that he couldn't say anything about the wedding in public.

In all honesty, he didn't know quite what he was going to do. He'd never been to a Muggle wedding, much less a wizard-style one, and he wasn't sure what was required. Purchasing a gift had been easy. On the pretext of buying a gift for his godmother, he'd spent a few hours with Ginny searching for something in the owl-order catalogue that she had lying around.

For one fleeting moment, he wished Ginny could join him for the weekend, but then he thought of Sirius. He wasn't sure how his godfather and girlfriend felt about each other, especially now that Ginny had become something a bit more... official.

Not that their relationship was public knowledge, either. Harry hated the fact that everything had to be secret, but it seemed the only way to make sure that everyone stayed alive.

Harry smiled a bit. He really was looking forward to the holiday, as Dobby had promised to leave him and his godfather alone to have some time together. Harry just hoped the house-elf didn't become suddenly nervous and turn up at The Burrow, only to discover that Harry was not there.

"Harry, are you all right? We lost you there for a minute." Ginny laid a hand on his shoulder, and stood on tiptoe to see up into his eyes.

"I was just thinking."

It was kind of funny, he thought, to see Ginny like this, straining to see up into his eyes, but sometimes it felt like she could see right through to his soul. If he weren't in a room full of people, one of them being her brother, he probably would have taken advantage of her upturned lips, which were looking very kissable at the moment.

"So Harry, what'd you get me for Christmas?" Ginny asked, noting his glazed eyes.

"A... No, you're not getting that out of me," Harry snapped, finally coming back to the land of the living. "Nice try, though."

"Well, it was worth a try."

"Ouch! What did you do that for, Hermione?"

"You were turning red. I was concerned for your health."

Ginny snorted. "I'm sure you were, Hermione."

Harry discreetly reached for Ginny's hand, grasped it firmly. "Sounds like this holiday is going to be lots of fun."

Ginny massaged his hand in hers, and grinned. "It will be."

**

"This wedding is going to be a disaster!" Anna threw down the robes she was working on. She couldn't purchase her own, because that might clue the Death Eaters in. It was lucky for her that she liked to sew under normal conditions.

"My dear, I'm sure it won't be that bad."

Anna looked up, and blinked her eyes.

"I'm losing my mind. I really and truly am."

"No, you're having a vision. Which is, as you once informed me, what Seers do."

"No, Seers spew off prophecies, they don't receive visits from dead people."

"What, you're not happy to see me?"

"I'm happy, ecstatic, really, it's just another sign that my sanity has left me completely. I told Remus we didn't have enough time. Didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, and I'm sure it will be fine."

"Am I asleep?"

"Yes. Staying up until all hours of the night sewing is not going to help your body's clock. You know that, right?"

"You used to say that to me as you were leaving to snog James, only then it was reading, or whatever else I happened to be into."

"I always said you did lovely work with embroidery."

"Lily, what am I going to do?"

"Well, the first thing is to stop panicking over every small detail. Everything will be fine. The second thing is to take a deep breath. You're turning a rather alarming shade of purple."

"Right. One deep breath coming right up. You know, that makes me feel a lot better."

"It should."

"Well, it's not every day your dead best friend turns up to give you a pre-nuptial pep talk."

Lily threw back her head and laughed. The sound of it rang like bells off the walls of Anna's private quarters. "That is true. But I remember you doing the same thing for me."

"That was slightly different. I wasn't dead."

"Also true. Anna, we have to talk."

"Obviously, or you wouldn't be down here. You never come see me for small talk. As a matter of fact, this is the first vision I've had of you."

Lily smiled sadly. "This is the first time you've been really open to me, Anna."

Anna sighed. "Let's get down to business. I'm sure you don't have much time."

"That's true, I don't. I have only until you wake up."

Anna smiled ruefully. "Isn't that always the case? I just would like to say that it was damned inconsiderate of you and James to die."

"Yes, well, we thought it was rather inconvenient ourselves."

As always, Lily's dry humor made Anna laugh.

"Seriously, Anna, you and Remus have something beautiful going on here. James and I are extremely proud and happy."

"You would be," Anna muttered.

"Was that a sarcastic comment, Miss Black?"

"Yes."

The two shared a giggle, until Lily turned serious again.

"I wish I could help you with that," she said, gesturing towards the pile of material in Anna's hand.

"No you don't. You hated sewing."

"It's the experience that counts. Well, what I came here to say is that you two had better not screw this up."

"Excuse me? Thanks for your support, Lils."

"I'm pulling for you, Anna. You and Remus always had something special. You're the only one who can get him through these next few transformations. He's becoming more and more resistant to the Wolfsbane potion."

"I know." Anna sat down on a sofa, patted it so that Lily could sit next to her. "What do I do?"

"Love him. That's all you can do. Hang on until something better comes along, or until you two have time to work it out." Lily tucked a piece of her ghostly red hair behind her ear.

"Did you and James ever... what I mean to say is..." Anna blushed furiously. "I think I'm going to be horrible at this marriage thing."

Lily laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry. Listen, James and I have been married for, well, let's think, seventeen, no, eighteen years. Let me tell you, you're going to be fine."

"That's what you think," Anna muttered.

"That's what I know."

"Sometimes I want to back out of it, the whole thing, just for a moment, and he'll look at me and I go tingly warm from head to toe."

"Anna. I don't have much time. If you love each other, truly love each other, nothing can go horribly wrong."

Tears started to leak out of Anna's eyes, though she fought to keep them back. "Oh, I don't want to cry, but I've missed you horribly."

Silvery liquid fell from Lily's eyes, and she pulled Anna in for a not-quite hug. "Have many happy years, sister."

"Stay a little while. I've taken so many pictures of Harry..."

Lily shook her head. "Anna, please don't make this hard."

"Okay, I'll smile and be brave. Someday, though, come back when you and I can have a good sit-down talk about everything. Your son, and that girl of his, and life in general, and what you and James have been plotting, and when Sirius is ever going to meet someone who deserves him. We'll talk about everything, except this bloody war."

Lily grinned. "It's a deal. Though I imagine it will have to be later rather than sooner."

"As long as I know I get to see you again."

"We're kindred spirits, dear. Of course we'll meet again. By the way, I've met that Ginny Weasley of Harry's."

Anna's eyebrows lifted. "Oh? What's the verdict?"

"She's good for him."

They stood then in one motion.

"Good-bye, Anna Lupin. You see, I'm the first to call you that."

"Good-bye, Lily Potter. I was the first to call you that."

With that, Lily was gone, and Anna awoke. Remus was gently shaking her shoulder.

"Are you ready to go?"

For the second time that day, Anna blinked to clear the sleep from her eyes.

"I will be in a minute."

Remus's sharp eyes caught the tear on Anna's cheek.

"What's wrong?"

"I dreamed about Lily. I asked her to stay. She said that she couldn't."

Remus smiled in sympathy. "We both know there's no spell that can bring them back to us. Much as we would love that."

"She also said I should love you forever. I told her that I was planning on it."

Remus blushed. "That makes two of us dedicated to making sure there's an us in the future."

"Did you check to see if Harry was ready?"

"Yes, he's waiting for us in my office. Sirius will be joining us later on this evening. He has an appointment with Dumbledore."

"Let's go get married."

"All right. Let's."