Sacrifice

Chapter Two

We Can Manage

It was a rough night for both Hazels. Jo had woken up twice in those few hours, screaming, if possible, more alarmingly than she had when her aunt had fainted. She was shaken awake the first time by Lily, with James, Sirius and Remus all peering anxiously over her shoulder. The second time, it was Lily again, but that time, she brought Jo to sleep between her and James, and though Jo didn't fall asleep again for a long time, when she did, Lord Voldemort did not visit her in her dreams.

Cody returned to The Leaky Cauldron just after daybreak. There were dark circles under her eyes and her expression was so very dour, that Sirius, who had met her downstairs when she arrived, noted that she bore no resemblance to the vivacious girl he'd known at Hogwarts.

"Lindsay is well beyond the point of devastated." Cody sighed. "Her parents arrived just before I left, I had to tell them it was a driving accident, a hit and run collision, and Thackary and Julie were killed. They insist on seeing Jo, but Lindsay can't deal with the grief as it is. Trying to be a mother to Jo would finish her. I'll be looking after her until Lindsay can cope."

"Don't you work for the Ministry?" Remus asked her.

"Yes," Cody answered tartly, "and as soon as I arrive at work this afternoon, I'll be requesting some time off."

"And how long have you been in their employ?" Surely, thought Remus, Cody can see where this was going.

"A week."

"And you think that your supervisor will grant you time off?" Sirius pressed.

"My brother just died."

"And Julius Fincey hasn't ever granted a hardship leave to any member of his department," James told her, naming her Department Head, "not even when Eugene Grending's son drowned; he took a day off for the funeral and Fincey fired him, he'd been with your department twelve years, and it didn't mean a thing to Fincey. Sorry, Cody but you picked the wrong department of you were looking for a good boss."

"I'll have to manage then," Cody retorted, without the faintest glimmer of how she might go about it.

"No, Cody, you won't manage," Lily declared, "but between the five of us we can manage."

"Lily, you've done enough. I can't ask you-"

Remus cut her off, "You didn't ask, we offered." He knew that doing so could drive her to distraction.

"Jo's quite fond of us, you know," said Sirius before giving her a mock supercilious grin.

"And think of it as payback for teaching Peter the Stunning Spell. He'd have failed his O.W.L. if you hadn't," James added, placating her; Cody wore a rather bad-tempered expression.

"Where is Pettigrew anyway?"

"On holiday in Fiji with his mother, not my choice of company for Fiji, but whatever Peter does in his spare time..."

"Sirius!" shrieked Lily. "That's horrible!"

*

They managed to wear Cody down. It was really a question of being reasonable. How else could someone be around to watch Jo at all times? Cody worked the third watch at the Ministry and it just wouldn't do to leave Jo alone in her present state; she wasn't doing any better since she started speaking again.

The arrangement made was that Cody would arrive home from work each night at approximately eleven thirty, later if there was a major accident to reverse, where either Remus or Sirius would be waiting. She'd converse with them briefly about Jo and how she was holding up, and then they'd Disapparate. When Jo got up the next morning, Cody would be ready to drop, but she'd fix breakfast for Jo and they'd have a chat over pancakes or muffins or whatever Cody was up to concocting. By eight o'clock, Cody would send Jo off by Floo powder to the little house that Lily and James had in West Sussex, and she would sleep.

Jo would spend the best part of the day with either James or Lily, or both. After supper, Jo would be sent back to London, where Remus or Sirius would be waiting. Cody worried that Jo needed more stability in her life but she didn't know how to give it to her. A junior member of the squad was not going to be given the chance to take the second watch, which was seven to three-thirty, and much better for your schedule when you're temporarily raising a child.

Thackary and Julianne's bodies had been laid to rest in the Hazel family plot, and it was the only time Jo had seen her mother since the she'd left with her father and sister for Whimsic Alley. If Jo was in turmoil, it was nothing to how Lindsay Henderson-Hazel was taking it. As was what were stated to be Thackary's wishes in his will, Lindsay came to the wake, funeral, and burial, alone. The only people who were to attend were his wife and immediate family. This offended his in-laws a great deal. But Lindsay knew that it was to conceal what Thackary really was. Lindsay did little else but weep all through her time with her remaining daughter, and Jo found herself in the frightening role of being the strong one. She didn't mind so much, but her mother worried her a great deal. And rightfully so.

It was halfway through the second week, when Jo's worries became credible. A screech owl soared into Cody's flat at approximately four-thirty AM, carrying a letter with the seal of The Department of Muggle-Wizard Inconspicuous Communication. A chill ran down Cody's spine. She knew very well what that owl would be carrying, a message from Lester and Carla Henderson. Cody had given Lindsay's parent's what she fooled them into believing was her beeper number, explaining that the telephone in her flat had not yet been set up. Cody had no idea what a beeper was. But in the event that they needed to contact her about Lindsay, they had a number where they could call and leave a message, not knowing that a nocturnal creature would pass it to her. She picked up the envelope from her feet; where the owl had dropped it, and tore it open anxiously. It read:

Recipient: Miss Cordelia Hazel, Witch

Urgent Message: Lindsay has taken a turn for the worse; Carla and I are taking her to the Hospital. Reply Immediately.

Sender: Mr Lester Henderson, Muggle

With out pausing for a moment, Cody raced to the fireplace and grabbed a handful of one of the sparkling powders on the mantle. She threw it fiercely into the small fire burning in the hearth. The flames erupted. "Remus Lupin and Sirius Black' s flat," she said very clearly, before she stuck her head in the flames. It came out in the flames of a flat badly in need of some straightening up.

"Remus! Remus!" she called, knowing he'd sooner wake than Sirius the Living Corpse. "REMUS!"

"What?" Remus's voice answered; there was a hint of groggy irritation in it.

"She's done it!"

These few words had an amazing effect; Remus shot out of the door visible from the hearth, wearing only a pair of tartan boxers and clutching a tattered brown robe. In a less grave situation, Cody would have felt honour bound to make a crack about Remus's lack of healthy body fat; at twenty, he had the ungainly leanness of a pre-adolescent boy, or of a very old man.

In this instance, however, while pulling on his robe, Remus spoke before she would have had a chance, "She's dead?" It had been two nights before when Cody had confided in him, her worry that Lindsay might do something drastic; she had been to seen her sister-in-law before her shift that day, and Lindsay's state had only seemed to worsen.

"No- Well actually, I don't know. Maybe. I can't be sure until I get to the hospital. But I can't take Jo there. She can't see Lindsay like this."

"I'll be over in a few minutes."

*

Jo woke, at nearly nine o'clock, to the smell of toast and frying bacon. She didn't think anything of it because it was Aunt Cody's day off; Jo wouldn't be visiting the Potters this morning. In spite of this, Jo felt a rush of excitement like she hadn't felt in nearly two weeks. By a stroke of luck, Aunt Cody's eighteenth birthday fell on this particular day off. Jo still had the souvenir from the day she'd rather forget, and she was determined to give it to her aunt anyway. Jo pulled the little box out from the middle of the pile of clothing in the corner of the room she shared with her aunt, and stepped out of it expecting to find her aunt frying the bacon.

It wasn't quite that scene that she met when she set foot in her aunt's kitchen. It was instead, Remus Lupin, who she found in there. Not to say that Jo wasn't keen on the kind-faced wizard, quite the opposite actually. Jo was indeed very partial to Remus; he listened to everything she had to say, and he never judged, he made a comment or a remark, but never did he talk down to her, like her grandparents often had. But Remus, agreeable as he was, was still not Aunt Cody, and as such, not the person Jo had wanted to see.

"Where's Aunt Cody?" she demanded.

Remus looked up from the stove. "She got an Owl this morning, calling her away on something urgent. She asked me to come over to stay with you until she can get it sorted out."

"What's happened?" Jo questioned, hoping that Remus missed the slight wobble in her voice. Urgent situations, for Aunt Cody, usually meant either a major accident or many Muggles happening upon wizarding activities, or both. Just four nights ago, Aunt Cody had to modify the memories of half a dozen Muggles who bore witness to another Death Eater attack. She'd woken that night to hear her aunt and Sirius talking about it, Aunt Cody had said that the Muggles didn't realize how fortunate they were to have witnessed the attack and lived to tell about it. Well, Jo had witnessed an attack and she didn't feel fortunate at all. But she didn't confide that thought in anyone. Not even Remus, to whom she seemed to have very little trouble talking to.

Remus didn't miss the wobble; but as much as he might have wanted to, being a young man, while a comparatively sensitive one, he hadn't any idea how to quell the fear he heard in her voice. "I don't really know, Jo," he said as he ruffled her hair. "All I do know is that your aunt received an Owl and had to leave immediately. She didn't really explain; I'm not sure she knew exactly what's happened herself. I don't know anything that might set your mind at ease, just that I'm sure Cody is in no danger; she was the toughest witch in Hogwarts."

"You knew Aunt Cody at Hogwarts?"

"Knew her?" Remus laughed. "Never have I been hexed so soundly but for the time I made the mistake of trying to provoke your aunt. I succeeded spectacularly, though I can't really say that it made me in any way the victor. She retaliated with the Jelly Legs Curse; it took the combined strength of myself, James and Sirius to get the countercurse to take. And I was still weak in the knees a fortnight later."

Jo giggled.

"I was fourteen and stupid, and Cody was twelve and quick-tempered. I never crossed her again; did I ever learn my lesson." It wasn't a complete lie, Remus rarely again crossed her outright, and when he did, he had learned to make sure he was in a position allowing for hasty retreat or at least sturdy cover. "Let's have us some breakfast, shall we?"

Cody arrived home late that evening. Jo dove on her. "Is everything all right? What happened?"

Remus noted that she looked about as tired as he usually did. Not surprising, considering that she had been up for the last sixteen hours.

"Everything will be fine, Jo," Cody said while stifling a yawn. "Your Mum... hurt herself, but the doctors say she'll make a full recovery."

"Mum had an accident?" Jo found her voice shrill.

"Er, something to that effect," Cody mumbled, averting her eyes from Jo's anxious expression, and Remus's shrewd stare. Obviously, Remus felt that Jo ought to be told the whole truth.

"Can I visit her?" Jo nearly begged of her aunt.

"Certainly not just yet Jo; she's had a bit of a shock," After all, thought Cody, she just discovered she didn't die.

Jo didn't say anything. Remus was always ill at ease when Jo didn't respond; he was certain that her frequent lapses of silence were a lingering effect from watching her father and sister being murdered. Eager to break this tension, he spoke, "Jo has something for you."

Jo gave a little start. "That's right! Hang on." She was all ready out of the room by the time she finished speaking.

"You can't tell her, Remus; she isn't ready yet."

Before Remus had a chance to reply, Jo bounded back in. "Happy Birthday, Aunt Cody!" Jo placed the small box in her aunt's hands and waited for her to open it.

Cody gasped when she did. Carefully extracting the crystal wolf, the thin gold chain threaded through her fingers, she shifted it to catch the light, and she felt the warmth of pure delight pour through her. "It's lovely," she said.

"It's a tawny wolf," Jo told her earnestly.

*

June 18^th, 1979

Hazel House

Little Berkhamstead, Hertfordshire

"SURPRISE!"

Jo started and lost her footing. In an instant she was on her backside, sliding down the stairs; it was a very unceremonious entrance. Knowing that they had made an error in judgment, Cody, Remus, Lily, James, and Sirius rushed forward to assess the damage.

Jo had landed in a heap at the bottom of the staircase. She sat up, grimacing. "Of course, I meant to do that," she said casually.

Relieved and laughing, Cody helped her niece to her feet.

Nearly two years had passed since Jo's father and sister had died. All things considered, Jo was a very well adjusted eleven-year-old girl. Much of these two years had been spent in the company of the five people who were in the room in this moment. Jo saw very little of her own mother, who, after another two suicide attempts, had been committed to a Muggle sanitarium by the December following the attack. Jo's grandparents had no comprehension of their daughter's seemingly crazed ramblings of wizards and magic. Thinking that their daughter had simply cracked, they signed the commitment papers. Needless to say, Jo had not been consulted in the matter.

Possession of Hazel House, the Hazel family home of many generations, fell to Cody. It was just as well, because the house unnerved Lester and Carla; they'd much rather Cody have it than tend to it themselves, though it soon became evident that Cody was, by no means, a housekeeper. She simply lacked the talent and the patience. Her culinary gifts were limited to breakfast foods, and Jo learned to prepare many other meals in self-defence. As for the state of the house, Remus tried valiantly to teach Cody some of the simpler domestic charms, but to no avail.

Today, however, the house was in an indisputable state of cleanliness and order. But then, it wasn't every day that a young lady turns eleven. Remus, Sirius, James, and Lily Apparated at Hazel House very early that morning to make preparations, a cake was baked, gifts were wrapped, a banner bearing the message "Happy Eleventh Birthday, Jo!" was hung from the ceiling.

Jo felt horribly unprepared for all this, as she stood facing the room in her cotton pyjama pants and t-shirt. "Um, hello," she said unsteadily.

Lily had been very upset by Jo's rapid decent down the stairs. "I told you surprising her first thing in the morning was a bad idea." She glared at Sirius, who, evidently, had hatched this plan.

"No, no, it's brilliant, just... unexpected."

But Lily hadn't seemed to hear Jo. "-Could have broken her neck, a fine birthday present!"

"Lily, I'm all right!" said Jo loudly.

"Of course you are, dear, but still-"

"Cool your cauldron fire, Lily," James had stepped in, gently restraining his wife from advancing on his best-friend with the look of fury that he knew all too well, "Jo's fine, and most thoroughly surprised, so all is as it should be."

"As it should be?" Lily screeched.

"We just won't ever try this approach again," Remus added quickly, while trying to suppress the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

After a hearty breakfast of peach pancakes and whipped cream, which was widely known to be Jo's utmost favourite meal, and gooey chocolate cake of Lily's concoction, winning rave reviews from the whole table, Cody set the men to clear the table.

As Sirius finished scraping the griddle clean, though it showed little improvement, Cody made the announcement, "Time for presents."

The adults grinned foolishly and each shoved brightly papered packages in Jo's general direction.

From Remus there was a package containing Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Fizzing Whizbees and the latest print of Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland with a marker in the section devoted to Pride of Portree; Remus had been dropping, of late, little hints that Jo should pick her Quidditch team, or rather his Quidditch team.

Sirius had put together a themed gift, an assortment of exploding, loud, or simply obnoxious devices ("Sure, you don't have to live with it." Aunt Cody interjected). Among said devices were Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks, Dungbombs, Stink Pellets, many Exploding Snap packs, Exploding Bon-Bons, and a prototype Screaming Yo-Yo acquired from an old flame from Hogwarts, Zenobia Zonko.

Aunt Cody presented Jo with a long, very thin box. Not so long and so thin that it could not be mistaken for a broomstick, but long and wide enough to contain something else Jo would enjoy.

Sirius took one look at the contents of the package and gave a self-satisfied smile. "Chided the woman who ARMED her niece," he countered her earlier comment.

In the box, lay a foil sword, very plain, and small enough for an eleven year old to wield. One, who did not know Jo, might think Cody slightly mad for bestowing upon her niece, a Muggle weapon. Because one who did not know Jo, did not know, that her mother, before her breakdown, was a National Fencing Champion. In fact, it was at one of these competitions, that Thackary Hazel had met Lindsay Henderson. The Muggle sport of fencing had always fascinated Thackary. Lindsay was already a great success in the Foil (the thin, pointy, bending swords) discipline, when they met. Her first competition in Sabre was the first time Thackary had laid eyes on her. She lost spectacularly, but Thackary hadn't really noticed. Jo's earliest memory was of her mother and father practicing. All she ever wanted to do from then on was fence too. And she did. Julie and Jo both took professional fencing lessons. Jo still does. The foil in the box was meant to be a practice foil.

Cody's gift wasn't the only one that Sirius took exception to, "BOOKS, Lily?"

"The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, and Ten Years Later by Alexandre Dumas," she said indignantly. "It's the trilogy telling the story of The Three Musketeers."

"The what?" asked the three men, who had never read any Muggle literature.

"Muggle thing," said Jo simply, though she was very pleased; her mother had turned her on to Alexandre Dumas as well, her favourite had been The Count of Monte Cristo.

"And last but not least," James paused dramatically before he went on, "as your aunt is working at the Quidditch World Cup in Norway this summer, and Lily wants so desperately to go on holiday, we're extending you an invitation to accompany us to Paris while your aunt is away."

Jo's mouth fell open. "P-p-paris?" she tried to repeat. Jo had known that her aunt was to work at the World Cup since March; she expected that she would end up staying with the Potters, but she never anticipated accompanying them to Paris, of all places.

"That's the capital of F-f-france, Jo," Sirius added with a grin.