Claire De Lune

Clair De Lune
Chapter Six: Sunset

August 7, 1980. 10:54 AM.

The late morning sun tenderly warmed Hermione's face as she wrote peacefully at her desk. The cosiness of her bedroom enveloped her in a calming embrace, and she hungrily inhaled the intoxicating smell of roses mixed with wood, which always seemed present at the Potter residence. Lily had given her the room right next to Harry's nursery so that if ever neither she nor James could attend to Harry, Hermione could look after him instead.

Her room was relatively small, but very homey. Against the wall opposite the comfy single bed was Lily's collection of Muggle books. The seven-shelf storage was filled with dusty volumes of varying sizes and genres, and Hermione did not waste any time in reading them. On the desk that James had kindly conjured for her was a rather large pile of finished books, an assortment of rolled up parchment, and a quill and ink bottle, which Hermione used to write notes to herself every morning.

Today had been like every other: calm and peaceful, but with the occasional quintessential event that almost always seemed to occur whenever Harry was present at the breakfast table. This morning, James held his son while Lily and Hermione made "Muggle pancakes". The proud father was humming softly, when suddenly, Harry yelped loudly and his diaper sagged with something warm . . . and smelly.

"Harry!" exclaimed James; Hermione could've sworn that he was ready to jump out of his seat if he hadn't realized that he was holding Harry's delicate form in his arms. Harry stared up at his father with wide eyes brimming with tears. He opened his mouth wide and sobbed, his frightened cries echoing in the kitchen.

Lily was furious. She quickly took Harry from James's arms and chastised him for yelling. "Now look at what you've done!" she hissed angrily while she tried to calm her son down. "You don't see me complaining when he does that."

"Excuse me, but I'm not used to getting crapped on at the table!" retaliated James, his voice more or less the same volume as Lily's.

Lily turned to Hermione. "Jane, could you please get Harry's bottle for me?" Hermione quickly obliged, eager to escape Lily's temper. She stayed in the kitchen long enough to hear Lily order James outside.

Hermione chuckled at the memory as she set her quill down and stretched her arms above her head. The parchment before her was half-filled with neat, numbered scribbles, each item detailing a debatable thought. Lifting the parchment off the table, Hermione read through the list, each question reverberating in her mind.

'How do I find Benjy Fenwick without giving myself away? Do they trust me enough to let me into Order affairs? How do I get to the Magical Archives? What exactly am I looking for? Does Professor Lupin remember me? Is that why he suggested me for the mission?'

Suddenly, there was a knock on her door, startling her. Hurriedly, Hermione rolled up the parchment and stuffed it into her drawer before the door swung open, revealing a smiling Sirius Black. He crossed the room towards her, and Hermione noted his black leather jacket, black sunglasses and frayed jeans. One would think that he was one of the Muggle rebels from the seventies. 'Then again . . .' thought Hermione, as Sirius stopped before her, 'maybe that's the look he's going for.'

"Hello, Jane darling," greeted Sirius, bending down to give her a fond peck on the cheek. Hermione found this affection of his quite odd. It was very hard to believe that this flirtatious, spirited young man was the former self of the Sirius she came to know and respect in the present.

Hermione smiled, saying, "Hello, Sirius," as she stood from her chair. Sirius pushed his sunglasses upwards and let them rest on top of his head.

"Lily wants you in the kitchen," he informed her, leading her towards the door. "I've never seen her so pissed off since James nearly throttled her in a duel back in school. Then again, Lily always cooks better when she's angry, so I think we should rub her the wrong way every time." He flashed Hermione a roguish wink and closed the door behind them.

"Oh no, what did she do to James?" asked Hermione anxiously.

Sirius chuckled amiably. "You'll have to see to find out."

Hermione hurried down the stairs, Sirius right behind her, and skidded to a stop right beside a window that opened into the backyard. She caught sounds of a shovel digging into the ground and a stream of swearwords wafting from somewhere to the right. Leaning out of the window, she saw James squatted in Lily's flower box, carefully selecting three seeds from the bag in his hand and putting them in measured spots on the ground.

"Erm . . . James?" called Hermione tentatively. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

Sirius snickered appreciatively and headed into the kitchen, his boots clicking against the hardwood floors. Hermione tried again, "Don't you have, er . . . a wand?"

James raised his sweaty face at her and glared. "I did have a wand, until a fucking banshee possessed my wife and stole it and forced me to planting these bloody flowers without magic."

"Oh . . ."

Hermione decided that it was best to leave James to his work for a while, and slowly pulled herself back from the window. Smirking at the thought of Harry's face when she tells him about his father's exploits, she entered the kitchen, where Lily was tipping spaghetti noodles into a large pot. The furrow between her brows was unmistakable.

Hermione caught Sirius's eye. He shrugged at her and lifted a bottle of cold butterbeer to his lips, clearly not wanting to test Lily's temper. Sighing softly, Hermione walked up to Lily. "Anything I can do?"

"Not at the moment," replied Lily, in a surprisingly calm voice. She looked up at Hermione and continued, "I was just wondering if you need anything from the Magical Archives for your studies."

'Talk about good timing.'

"I was actually wondering when I could go," said Hermione slowly as she fingered a loose thread in her shirt. "I need to do some research."

Lily smiled at her and indicated towards Sirius. "That old bloke over there can take you. He needs to do some long-delayed research as well." She shot him a very pointed look.

Sirius laughed lightly. "Lily, love, you know I had business to attend to before burying my nose in another book." He guzzled some more butterbeer before turning to Hermione. "So, how about it, Jane? Fancy a trip to the library with me?"

"As long as it's all right with Lily," answered Hermione, eyeing the older woman, who was using what looked suspiciously like James's wand to make spaghetti sauce. She allowed herself a tiny smirk before nodding yes.

*

The Magical Archives was a chamber in the Ministry of Magic that could easily rival the vastness of the Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch. Thousands upon thousands of volumes of varying shapes, sizes, colours, and thickness stood on sturdy shelves spread out throughout the marble floor. Shelves almost twenty feet tall rose like bleachers, surrounding the whole room at an angle with the floor. Everywhere, witches and wizards climbed ladders to reach a particular book or document. Small circular tables were scattered everywhere, while most of the bookshelves on the floor had attached desks. Gold and red rays from the setting sun filtered through the windows, and torches burned brightly in the massive chandeliers overhead; Sirius had stalled as much as he could to avoid getting dragged to the Archives, but eventually had given in to Hermione's eagerness.

Hermione's eyes widened in awe. She had always thought that the Hogwarts Library had the most comprehensive collection of books. Never had she dreamed of such a . . . such a bookworm's paradise.

Chuckling, Sirius pushed her chin upwards to close her mouth that she didn't even realize was open. "Now I know why you and Lily get along so well. She had the exact same reaction."

Hermione blushed furiously, but could not help wishing she had six more eyes. There was so much to see, to read. Eagerly, she ventured forwards, ready to inhale and swallow every piece of information she could find.

The whole library was divided into different categories and subcategories, with the books arranged in alphabetical order. It didn't take Hermione long to locate the 'Werewolf' section. Two eight-foot shelves were full to overflowing with books dedicated to werewolf studies, bearing titles like, The Alpha-Beta: Werewolf Genealogy, Wacky, Wicked Wimbles about Werewolves, Howling Hour, and Henry Hornbeam's Horrific List of Nine Hundred and Twenty-Three Things You Must Not Do In Front of a Werewolf.

Twenty minutes later, she located Sirius seated at a table near the back of the room, poring over a rather large and mouldy-looking book. She set her heavy stack of some ten to twelve books on the table with a loud thud, startling her companion.

It was Sirius's turn to widen his eyes in shock. "Holy shit, Jane! You aren't planning to read all of those today, are you?"

"We're allowed to borrow them though, aren't we?" asked Hermione as she quickly sat down and pulled the top book off the pile.

"Yes, but my account can only handle so much!" Sirius seemingly didn't know whether to look amused or astounded. Hermione didn't hear this last comment, as she had already looked through the table of contents and was looking for the designated page.

Silence descended on the pair, and the only sounds that could be heard were those of rustling paper and footsteps. Hermione had thought that finding information on the amulet would be difficult, but it seemed that most of the books she pulled from the shelves had something to say about it, although not much. When she opened Luna Piena: A Werewolf History, however, she found a short, yet detailed selection about 'The Amulet of Selene'.

'Selene, the moon goddess, is known for her countless love affairs. The most famous of her loves is the shepard, Endymion. Other affairs of Selene's included involvement with Zeus, with whom she had three daughters, and Pan, who gave her a herd of white oxen. Some sources report that the Nemean lion, which fell to the earth from the moon, was the result of an affair between Zeus and Selene.

'She is depicted as a young woman with an extremely white face who travels on a silver chariot drawn by two horses. She was not one of the twelve great gods on Olympus; however, she was the moon goddess. After her brother, Helios, completed his journey across the sky, she began hers. Before Selene's journey across the night sky, she bathed in the sea.

'In the ancient times, it was believed that Selene created a sapphire-encrusted amulet to preserve her power. She gave this amulet as a gift to her faithful mortal followers, the children of the moon (modern time werewolves). With Selene's powers sealed within this amulet, her children were able to transform from creature to human and back at will. The amulet also gave them the ability to overpower other mortals and contaminate them with their lycanthropy (see page 142).'

'This is just what Professor Lupin told us,' mused Hermione, as she read through the text again. Setting the open book aside, she reached for the other books in her pile, but the next three said the same thing, if not less. She wondered silently if Remus-twenty-year-old Remus-had more information about this.

"Found anything?" inquired Sirius as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his temples. "Although, I suppose with that Tower of Babylon you got there . . . ." He eyed the pile of books with disgust.

"The Tower of Babylon was never finished, Sirius," grinned Hermione as she tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "You could still add more to it."

"What an analogy."

The amused sarcasm in Sirius's voice tickled Hermione, so much so that it took a lot of effort not to burst out laughing. As she prepared to bury her face in her book to stem her giggles, she spotted Remus hurrying towards them, a completely frightened look on his handsome face.

He skidded to a stop beside them and held onto the edge of their table to keep himself from falling over. "James-Lily . . . ." he panted.

Sirius drew himself to his full height, a dark cloud hovering over his grey eyes. "What happened?" he demanded.

There was silence for a split-second, and Hermione's heart skipped a beat as she noted the unspoken understanding between the two friends. Suddenly, Sirius sprang up and bolted for the exit, not bothering to wait for his companions. Remus pulled Hermione out of her seat, giving her just enough time to grab her bag. They tore across the floor, their shoes echoing loudly in the chamber.

"James and Lily are in trouble," he breathed, as if reading Hermione's thoughts. They reached the heavy oak doors and pushed through them. Upon reaching the Apparition site, Remus clutched her hand tightly. "Hold on tight." Before Hermione could protest, the two of them Disapparated.

*

A loud explosion reverberated in Hermione's eardrums as she and Remus landed on the cold ground with a thud. Hexes and curses were flying everywhere in a plethoric frenzy. Hermione got hastily to her feet, pulling Remus upwards with her. As she surveyed the scene before her, cold numbness enveloped her entire body.

The Potters' residence in Godric's Hollow was surrounded by masked, black-cloaked wizards. Brilliant jets of light in green, red, and purple flew back and forth in the yard, and even inside the house. The noise was deafening.

"Jane!"

Remus grasped her firmly by the shoulders. "Go find Lily!" he shouted, though his voice was almost inaudible through the confusion. "Did you hear me? Find her!"

Fear flowed through Hermione's bloodstream as she followed Remus through the wall of Death Eaters, deflecting curses and hexes as best as she could. As she neared the open door, one particularly large Death Eater knocked her over, sending her flying across the grass.

"Impedimenta!" screamed Hermione, and her attacker tumbled backwards. Breathing heavily, she stood and rushed to the door. Inside, the house was in complete disarray: the floor was littered with pieces of broken glass, the furniture viciously destroyed, and huge craters decorated the cement walls. Hermione spotted Lily fending off four Death Eaters at the top of the stairs. Harry's mother had a look of utmost hatred on her face, and her voice shook with incredible anger as she effortlessly cursed her assailants. Hermione rushed forwards to help her.

"Lily!" she cried as she hit two Death Eaters with the Full-Body Bind. Lily's eyes welled with tears and she pulled Hermione into a bone-crushing hug.

"In here," whispered Lily fiercely, and she yanked Hermione into a nearby broom closet just off the second floor landing. Slamming the door closed, she cast a Silencing Charm and took both of Hermione's hands in hers.

"Oh, Jane . . . I am so glad you showed up." Her voice quivered slightly, and through the dim light, Hermione could make out the relief on her face.

Squeezing Lily's hands tightly, she asked, "What's going on? Why are they here?"

Lily hitched a breath and was silent for a moment, as if hesitating to tell her. After a few tense moments, she explained, "Voldemort attacked me and James a couple of years ago, when we were newly inducted into the Order of the Phoenix, ordering us to join him. Naturally, we refused, and he vowed to come back for us."

Suddenly, there was a loud thud just outside the door, and they heard James yell, "Is that all you got, you filthy bastards? Come and give me all you've got, you fucking cowards!"

This seemed to bring Lily back to reality, and her grip on Hermione's hands tightened so much that Hermione's fingers started to numb. "Jane, listen to me," she said urgently, in a very low voice. "Harry is in his crib, hidden under the invisibility cloak. I cast a Sleeping Charm on him so he won't wake up. Take him to Remus's and stay there for the time being. James and I will catch up with you later."

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you fight?"

"Jane, my only concern right now is my son." Lily's voice shook again, and this time, fresh tears streamed down her face. "I'm leaving him under your protection because I trust you. I know you'll keep him safe. Won't you?"

"Yes, of course." Hermione wrapped her arms around the older woman and embraced her firmly. "I promise."

Lily's body trembled for a moment, and then she let go, a grateful smile on her face. Gripping her wand tightly, she put her hand on the doorknob. "On the count of three, go and get Harry. Don't worry about me."

"Okay."

"One . . . two . . . three!"

Lily flung the door open and Hermione dashed for the second set of stairs. A brilliant array of lights danced on the ceiling overhead as another furious exchange of hexes occurred on the landing. Hermione ran to Harry's nursery, frightening thoughts of death lingering in her mind. The hallway seemed too long, and the room at the very end seemed too far away.

'Oh God, please keep them safe. Please . . . .'

Finally, she reached the nursery and flung the door open. It was like stepping into a whole new world, so different from the chaos downstairs. The soothing melody from Harry's mobile contributed to the tranquil atmosphere, stemming her fears temporarily. Quickly, Hermione approached the crib and felt around for the invisibility cloak. She pulled on the soft, velvety material and found Harry's peaceful face, sleep keeping him immune to the ongoing riot.

With no time for tears, Hermione pocketed his milk bottle and carefully lifted him off the bed. She tucked him safely in her arms, and with one last silent prayer for his parents, she Disapparated.

*

Two o'clock in the morning.

Remus trudged into his house, breathless and exhausted. A deep wound on his left cheek oozed burgundy and black, but he paid no attention. He had only Jane, and her and Harry's safety, on his mind.

Slowly, he crept up the stairs. "Jane?"

No answer.

He clenched his fingers around his wand as he reached the second floor. He held his breath and swung the first door open. It was dark, with the exception of the ethereal moonbeams creeping through the open window. There, huddled in the corner, sat Jane and Harry. Relief washed over Remus like a tidal wave, and he hurried towards her.

Falling to his knees beside her, he clutched her shoulder gently. "Are you all right?"

She nodded stiffly in response; her face was shining with tears. She held Harry tightly, who was still miraculously asleep. Remus eyed her sadly, and then fastened his arms around her tightly. "You'll be fine now. I'm here," he whispered.

Jane let out a strangled sob, and Remus felt a cold, damp patch form on his shoulder. Moved by this, he held her in the most comforting way he could muster without staining her with the blood from his wound.

Again and again, he murmured, "It's all right, Jane. It's all right . . . ."