Collateral Damage

Collateral Damage, Chapter 5, "The Fall".

Remus stirred early one morning to go over a few maps of the surrounding villages and the number of suspected Voldemort supporters that resided there. As he pored over the maps, drinking coffee, he did not notice movement around him. It wasn't until he raised his head that he noticed Lesley sitting right next to him, eating cornflakes. He looked at her and smiled.

"Good morning, Lesley."

Lesley looked up at him wide-eyed mid-spoonful and then looked away.

"Did you sleep well?"

She nodded, still looking at her cereal as she went back for another spoonful. Remus looked over at the kitchen counter where he could see the box of cornflakes was tipped over on the counter, spilling its contents everywhere.

"Did you get your breakfast yourself?"

Lesley turned and looked up at Remus with a big smile on her face. "Yes I did!"

"Well, I see you did a good job. Excuse me; I just need to get some sugar for my coffee."

With that, Remus stood up to fulfill his quest for the sugar. At the same time, he picked the cornflakes box up and cleaned up the carpet with a click flick of his wand. Lesley was unaware of this gesture as she was humming a song to herself as she ate her breakfast.

Remus looked out the kitchen window across the grounds. Since the day Severus came to judge Claire's Wolfsbane potion, the weeks passed by at the manor with few surprises. There had been no attacks and life at the manor was becoming routine. Remus had found another bedroom, as he promised he would. Remus and Claire had gone on many walks across the grounds. Lesley was always with them, and sometimes her older sister, Emily, came along. Every now and then Tonks would walk with Claire instead of Remus, especially after the full moon. The walks were always a nice change from the monotony of the house, and it gave Remus and Claire time to chat. They had a budding friendship which made the long hours at the Manor go by faster. It was these walks that Remus was thinking about as he stared out the window.

"Remus, are we going to go for our walk today?"

"Of course, why wouldn't we?" Remus inquired, sitting back down at the table.

"Because sometimes you don't come with us. Why?"

"Well, sometimes I'm sick, and I'm not strong enough to go walking."

"Oh," Lesley replied. At that moment, Mrs. Berkley came into the kitchen and bade them all a good morning. Lesley looked at her mother and then said, "Mummy, will you come for a walk with us today?"

Mrs. Berkley smiled at her daughter. "I would love to."

"Can Daddy come too?"

"Well love," Mrs. Berkley started, looking over at Remus, "we need to check with the Guard first. We can't have anything happen to Daddy."

"I don't see a problem with it," Remus replied. "Obviously, Claire will be with us and I'll ask Tonks or Moody if they want to go, too."

"That sounds wonderful, thank you," Mrs. Berkley responded.

Remus waved the thanks away with his hand. "It's not a problem. It must be trying being cooped up in here all the time."

When Remus ran the idea of having Mr. and Mrs. Berkley on the walk with them past Moody, the older man insisted he accompany them. Tonks was to stay back at the manor to watch over Emily, who didn't want to go.

It was after lunch, and the walk started out like any other. Remus and Claire walked down their usual path, side by side. Lesley would run up ahead, and Claire and Remus would follow. Mr. and Mrs. Berkley walked off to the side, far enough away for privacy, yet close enough that they would not be in danger. Moody followed up the rear.

"You were up awfully early this morning," Claire commented, glancing over at Remus. Her soft green robes were swishing in the grass as she walked.

"I thought that I could review a few maps as I sipped my coffee," Remus replied, shifting his robes on his shoulders. His brown robes were becoming warm in the late spring sun.

"That makes sense. How did the revision go?" She looked at him earnestly.

"Quite well, I figured out that there are few supporters of Voldemort in this neck of the woods, and that cornflakes can spread out pretty far when spilt." A smirk crept across his face, and he glanced at her though pieces of his brown hair that was falling in front of his eyes.

Claire laughed. "I see. Critical information, that is."

"It is, you know," Remus replied, also chuckling. "So, why did you sleep in so late this morning? Normally you're up before everyone, but it was nearly 9 a.m. before you graced us with your presence." He looked over at Claire again, watching her navigate her way up a particularly hilly part on the ground.

"Well, we had a report that there was a chance of an attack last night, so we stayed up keeping guard. I was crawling into bed as a set of little feet were running into the kitchen." She had her arms out for balance, and as Remus followed her up the small hill, he reached out and steadied her with a hand on her back, and on her right arm.

Remus smiled, "I never thought my feet were that little. I guess you put me in my place."

"Very droll, Remus, very droll. I meant Lesley," Claire replied, looking at him with a smile on her face.

She turned her head away from Remus slightly, to look at Lesley walking ahead of them. Remus turned to look at her and then felt a hand slide into his own. He took her hand more securely, intertwining their fingers. He felt something stir inside of him as he softly caressed his thumb against her hand. It was a feeling of excitement and contentment that was growing with every step. When he looked at her he noticed that the dark circles still hadn't faded beneath her brown eyes. The smattering of freckles that ran across her cheekbones became more noticeable in the afternoon sun. She turned and their eyes met, again drawing his attention to the weariness in her eyes. It was at that moment he had a realization.

"Why wasn't I part of the guard last night?" Remus stopped walking and turned towards Claire.

Claire looked taken aback for a moment. "The full-moon was two night ago, you're still recovering. We only got the report after you turned in for the night. It was decided that we should let you sleep it off."

Remus shook his head. "I'm not some invalid. Two days is more than enough recovery time. You can't go burning the candle at both ends, you look pretty beat yourself."

Claire, who was looking at him dumbfounded, let go of his hand after the last comment. "Excuse me for caring about your welfare! We decided that it would be best for you to let you sleep another night, something that you're not too grateful for. Yes, we, decide that. Not just myself, but all of us. But hey, let's point out that I'm starting to look ragged around the edges." With that final comment, she turned and walked ahead to where Lesley was picking some wildflowers. At this point, Moody had caught up with Remus.

"That wasn't a very bright thing to say, you know she's a little fiery," Moody said stealthily. Remus was about to answer, but Moody continued. "I think it would be best if we turned around now. We are just on the other side of their property, so the Fidelius is not in effect." Remus nodded in agreement and made his way over to the Berkleys as Moody started towards Lesley and Claire.

"Mr. Berkley! Mrs. Berkley! I think that we sh-," Remus was cut off by a piercing scream. Figures dressed in black robes appeared out of thin air. Wands out, they were ready to attack. The scream came from Mrs. Berkley, who had started to run towards Lesley, but was struck with a well-aimed Cruciatus Curse. When she hit the ground, she was subsequently stunned. By the time the attackers were finished with Mrs. Berkley, the Guard was cursing the attackers defensively. The Guard was outnumbered, but everyone was doing their best to keep the Death Eaters away.

A few Death Eaters already lay on the ground, stunned. Remus had stunned another Death Eater when a second piercing scream hit his ears. He turned for a moment to see Claire backing up, dueling, and pushing a hysterical Lesley into the hollow behind them. In that split-second moment Remus saw the Death Eater make slashing movements with his wand and purple flames erupted from his wand, hitting Claire on the chest. She fell backwards into the hollow, knocking Lesley down at the same time. The Death Eater started to move towards Claire. Remus strode towards the Death Eater, sparks emitting from his wand. The Death Eater kicked the unconscious Claire out of his path as he made his way towards Lesley, who was whimpering with her back against the earth, wildflowers still clutched in her hand. A quick wave of his wand, and Lesley was stunned. Remus aimed his curse at the Death Eater, but it missed, hitting the ground at their feet. The Death Eater turned and Remus hit him in the eyes with the Conjunctivitis Curse. He stumbled backwards and Remus hit him with the Furnunculus Curse. Remus was about to hit them with another curse when he felt himself be hit by one, and then everything went black.

Remus woke up in his bed at Hogwarts. It took him a moment for him to realize where he was. The hangings were drawn around his bead, and he wondered if it was day or night. He started to move out of the bed, pulling back the hangings, and pain shot through his ribs. Looking down he saw that there were bandages wrapped around his rib cage. Now moving more gingerly, he planted his feet on the ground and pulled his loose white under-robe shirt on and a pair of slacks. Opening the door he looked across the room and saw Moody engrossed with writing a letter at the table on the other side of the room. To his left was a bedroom with the door open. Remus could see a set of robes in a soft green laid over a chair in the room. Remus looked at it for a moment, and then realized who was in that room. He gingerly got up and walked though the door, Moody glancing up at him.

Remus sat down in a chair next to the bed and picked up Claire's hand. He held her hand for a moment or two and then noticed that her eyes were opening.

"Hullo," he said softly, bringing her hand up to his lips and placing a soft kiss on her fingers.

"Hi," she replied. He held her hand tighter as his eyes wandered over her injuries. She had cuts on her cheek and forehead, as well as the damage the Death Eater's curse had done to her. Finally, he looked into her eyes.

"How bad do I look?" she asked.

"A little ragged around the edges," he replied softly, kissing her forehead.