Collateral Damage

When Remus pulled back from the light kiss he gave her, he noticed that her eyes had closed again and her head had tilted to the side. It was obvious that she had gone unconscious again. Not too sure if that was normal, Remus stood to leave the room and summon Madam Pomfrey. He walked slowly around her bed and back into the common room. His bare feet were cold on the stone floor. When he reached the table where Moody was sitting, he had to stop and take a break. He pulled out a stool and eased himself on to it. He took a sharp breath in as pain shot up through his torso. Moody set his quill down and looked at Remus, "How are you holding up?"

"I think I'll live," Remus replied, leaning slightly on the table, grimacing in pain.

"We'll all live," Moody stated matter-of-factly, as he picked up his quill again.

"How are you? Tonks? Claire?"

"I'm mended, I ended up being Stunned. Tonks is fine, as she was in the house. She went down to the kitchens for breakfast I believe. You and Claire got the worst of it. Most of your ribs were broken, but they are almost mended."

"Almost?" Remus winced, shifting slightly.

"Yes, almost. You'd swear you were almost dying," said Moody, reproachfully. "As I was about to say, Claire had the most damage done. That bastard really hit her with all he had."

Remus stiffened at the memory. "I have to get Madam Pomfrey, Claire woke up, but fell unconscious again."

"No need, it's not the first time she woke up. Her body can't handle being conscious for very long." Moody returned to his correspondence.

"Did we catch any of the Death Eaters?"

"Yes," said Moody, folding up the Daily Prophet. "A lower ranking Death Eater, and Dolohov."

"Dolohov? Really?"

"Yes. He's the one who cursed Claire, it was his specialty you know."

"I know," Remus said, grimly. "How are the Berkleys?"

"I think we best wait for Dumbledore to explain that part. I was Stunned and don't remember anything," a grave Moody replied.

Remus nodded. "So, how long have we been here?"

"A day," Moody replied, his finished letter being placed in an envelope. At that moment Tonks came up from downstairs with a stack of toast and marmalade.

"Morning, Remus! Good to see you up and about," Tonks said, cheerfully.

"Morning, Nymphadora."

Tonks just rolled her eyes. "So, you're feeling better?"

"Well, the last thing I remember is being Stunned, and I wake up in pain, so technically no, but I'll take your word for it," Remus said, picking up a piece of toast but not taking a bite.

"You'd better; you were in a right state when you got here. The spell that you were hit with shattered all your ribs." Tonks sat down at the table across from him, and helped herself to some toast.

Remus eyebrows shot up with surprise, and he put his breakfast down onto the table. He had broken bones before, but never any that were shattered. He thought about the Death Eater attack, and Lesley's terrified face came to his mind. He propped his elbows on the table and ran his hand over his eyes, and through his hair, suddenly feeling weary and full of dread. The Guard could hear the approaching footsteps of the Headmaster, the old oak door from the passageway opened quietly. When Dumbledore entered the room Remus moved his hand away from his eyes. Dumbledore's expression was very grave, and there was no twinkle in his eyes. Remus' blood ran cold, he couldn't bear to know how bad the damage was if this was Dumbledore's reaction. Dumbledore turned to Moody and nodded a greeting. He turned to the remaining Guard to address them.

"I see we are all here and no worse for wear. I understand that Miss Desjardins cannot join us, so I expect you to fill her in. As you are aware, the Death Eaters discovered you yesterday when you stepped outside the Fidelius' boundary. It is believed that Death Eaters knew its location before the Fidelius charm. They staked out the grounds, so to say. When you exposed your position, those hiding under disillusionment charms began their attack. Concerning the Berkley family, we only know that those who remained on the property are all fine and mended. They were only Stunned. However, I do have some disconcerting news regarding the point of our mission. An unknown Death Eater was able to grab Mr. Berkley and kidnap him using side-along Apparation. We are assuming that they are keeping him at an unknown location. I have asked Severus to find out where he is being kept. Furthermore, Severus will work on creating a potion that will detect the Imperius Potion, as well as an antidote."

It was at that moment that Dumbledore paused, and the weight of what he had just said to them set in. Failure. Absolute failure. Tonks looked down at the ground. Moody huffed and left the table. Remus ran his palm over the stubble on his chin.

"Fortunately, the Death Eaters need Mr. Berkley to create the recipe."

"How is this fortunate?" Remus asked.

Dumbledore looked at Remus with no glimmer in his eyes. "It is fortunate that Mr. Berkley is alive, as opposed to lying in a hollow on his property, dead as a result of carelessness." Remus looked away, burning with shame. "I expect one of you to debrief Claire when she can handle the news. From the sounds of her injuries, that shouldn't be for quite a few days."

With that final statement, Dumbledore stood up and strode out of the room, his deep purple robes billowing behind him impressively. When the heavy, wooden door clicked shut Remus got up and turned away from the table. Tonks was sitting at the table, reading a discarded Daily Prophet. Moody made his way to the door, heading to the Owlery. Remus walked into his room, over to his bed, and picked up his robe. He pulled it on carefully and made his way over to Claire's bedroom. Looking at her, he could see that she was still unconscious. She had the covers up to her chest, but her arms were outside of the covers. She had on a white nightgown, with just a bit of decorative lace on the collar. Remus sat down on the chair beside her bed; he picked up her hand and held it in both of his. He sat there for many minutes looking at her; with every passing second, he felt more and more guilt over the situation. Remus figured that had they not been fighting, they would have never over stepped the grounds, and none of this would have happened. Dumbledore had made it perfectly clear that he felt the same way. He rested his elbows on her bed and brought his hands up to his mouth, holding them there, her hand still resting in his. He was lost in thought when a familiar voice came from the doorway.

"It's not your fault, you know," Moody told him.

Remus lowered his hands, still holding Claire's, and turned to Moody. "If we hadn't fought, then we wouldn't have stepped outside the boundary."

"Yes we would have," Moody stated taking two steps into the small room.

"How do you know?"

"Because I didn't notice that we were near the boundary until it was too late. Even if Claire had not run ahead, the Berkley's would have been outside the charm."

"You can't blame what happened on yourself." Remus sat back in the chair and looked at Moody.

"Who said I was? I am just telling you so you don't take the blame for this on your shoulders."

"Dumbledore seems to think it was my fault," Remus said, looking down.

"Dumbledore, although upset at the result of the mission, is more upset that you and Claire were seriously injured. Look at his anger as the parental kind, if something happened to you that could have hurt you, and after you were found to be alright your parents would ream into you over your mistakes."

"True, but I don't remember feeling this much guilt over anything I did to my parents."

"That because someone else besides you was injured," Moody concluded. He turned and exited the room, leaving the door half-shut.

Remus went back to contemplating his actions when he was interrupted again. Claire was stirring in her sleep and was on the verge of waking up. Remus pushed pieces of her brown hair that fell over her face, and with his light touch she began to wake up. Her eyes opened and she looked and him and smiled softly.

"Still here?" she inquired.

"Of course," Remus replied, looking at her seriously.

"You've got to be pretty bored then," she said, smiling.

"Ah, but with Dumbledore striding in every now and then there's always excitement." Remus matched her smile.

"Dumbledore was here? How are the Berkleys?" said Claire, trying in vain to straighten up. Remus helped her, she held onto his hand as she tried to pull herself up. He was gently pushing on her back with his other hand to give her momentum. Successful, he placed her pillow against her back and head for support.

"They are all safe and fine, along with Moody and Tonks," said Remus, with a faint smile. He wouldn't tell her about Mr. Berkley now, not until her condition improved more.

At this moment Madam Pomfrey had entered the room with an armload of potions. She made her way towards Claire's bed and looked relieved when she saw her awake.

"I'm glad to see that you are awake. I've brought your potions, and I didn't want to have to leave them here for you to take later." Madam Pomfrey started setting them down on Claire's bedside table.

"Well, I try to be as accommodating as I can," Claire said with a smirk, shifting against her pillows.

"I'm sure you do," said Madam Pomfrey, as she looked over at Remus at the same time. He made an innocent face. "Now, Remus, if you could be helpful and help Claire sit up a little more that would be great."

"Of course, not a problem," Remus said, as he silently prepared himself for the pain that was about to shoot through his abdomen.

"Oh, bugger! Never mind Remus, she's passed out again. This is awful; I am never going to get these potions into her." Madam Pomfrey sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at Claire. "This mission turned into such a disaster," she sighed, shaking her head. "Are you going to stay here for a bit?" Remus nodded. "I am going to leave these potions here, if she wakes up just call me over and we'll get her settled." Remus nodded again, and swallowed hard. He felt that if he could swallow the guilt that he was feeling that everything would be better. He looked down again at Claire. Their foolish mistakes could have got everyone killed. He knew the decision that had to be made. Although their relationship had never moved beyond hand holding and a quick kiss on the forehead, it had to remain that way. The Order members depended upon them for their lives, at the least. They had to remain co-workers, friends. They had to remain chaste.

Remus wondered how Claire would feel about that decision.