Out of the Books

Chapter 16 - Into the Books

If someone had told Sirius that he could feel such relief and anxious apprehension at the same time as feeling the desperate icy coldness, which grasped the heart of any person who ventured behind the Veil, he would have declared him crazy.

Having gone through the gateway once before, he knew exactly what lay ahead of him and he was looking forward to it. Too bad that he couldn't communicate his optimism and confidence any better when he was in his dog form. So he settled on turning his head and giving Leo, who clutched the fur on his neck tightly, a reassuring and almost cheerful smile.

Soon the familiar falling sensation turned into the feeling of floating weightlessly - not floating away from the tattered curtain, but not getting any closer either. He remembered his panic from one year ago, when he had been frantically trying to get back to the Department of Mysteries, where Harry and his friends had been fighting a bunch of Death Eaters. He wondered whether Bellatrix or any of the others have been brought to justice.

Finally though, James pointed at the Veil and evidently tried to say something. However, no sound emerged from his mouth. But sounds were not necessary. All five of them could see clearly how the Veil was now very slowly moving towards them.

Having been the first to set her foot on this threshold to the other world, Liz was now also the closest to the fluttering piece of cloth, which simple hung there in the middle of nowhere, with no visible means of support.

With one hand holding on tightly to her daughter, she stretched the other hand towards the tattered sheet of fabric, wondering what she would find behind it. Only two more centimetres before she could touch it.

Liz gasped and felt Amy shriek soundlessly in startlement behind her, as the room suddenly tipped and moved on its side. The human chain built of the four Pearsons and Padfoot was pulled forward forcefully, but even before any of them had time to be scared properly by the sudden movement, they landed in a tumble on the floor of another dark and damp tunnel. Even though it was faintly lit by phosphorescent moss or lichens, it was impossible to see further than barely a few feet ahead.

Groaning slightly, Amy and Leo disentangled themselves from their parents and from each other and scrambled to their feet.

Leo looked curiously back to where they had come from, but there was no sign of the Veil or any other kind of gateway, only the blank tunnel, which lost itself in darkness after a few steps. Smoothing out his t-shirt demonstratively, Leo shrugged and turned around to his family. "Well, that was a cool ri--" He broke off, staring at the darkhaired man, who was standing where the dog had been mere seconds before, grinning broadly at him, Amy and their parents.

"We are back," stated Sirius plainly, his voice a bit hoarse from not having used it for more than a year.

James seemed rooted to the spot for a moment, staring at his friend in amazement, before he lunged forward and threw his arms around him.

"We really did it! Padfoot, we are back - You are back!"

He turned half around, one arm still resting on Sirius's shoulder, smiling happily at his wife and children. "Can you believe it? We are in the wizarding world!"

Leo and Amy grinned back, although they were throwing uncertain glances at Sirius once in a while. Even though they had known that Padfoot was in reality their father's best friend from school, it was still strange to see him in his human form for the first time after having lived with him for over a year in his dog form.

Amy cleared her throat to cover her awkwardness about the situation. "So, you can do magic now, can't you?" she asked the three adults in general. "Can you show us something magic?"

Leo was nodding eagerly. "Yes," he said, "and then you can teach us how to do it!" His eyes were shining with excitement and he was bouncing on his feet.

"It's not so easy without a wand," conceded James, "but we could try something simple."

He pointed his finger at nothing in particular and muttered, "Let's see, if I can still do it." Then he screwed up his face in concentration and said, "Lumos!"

At once a thin beam of light spilled from the tip of his finger, painting a small round spot on the opposite wall.

"Cool! - Wicked! - That's almost like E.T.!" exclaimed Leo and Amy delightedly.

Now Sirius stepped forward. "Okay kiddies, watch this!"

He too raised his finger, but then pointed it on the ground and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

A pebble soared up in the air. Sirius moved his finger and the little stone was following it, shooting around back and forth through the dark tunnel. After watching the pebble for a moment, James started chasing it with his finger-flashlight.

The twins were cheering them on loudly and excitedly. They still had to wait and see how Sirius was behaving as a man instead of a dog, but from what they had seen so far, he promised to be fun.

"Stop it right now!" shouted Lily angrily.

The pebble fell to the ground with a soft plonk, but otherwise the tunnel lay in uncomprehending silence. "What's the matter?" asked James somewhat worried but mainly offended.

"I don't think you quite understand the situation. We have no idea where we are," she said exasperatedly. "For all we know, we could be right next to some Death eater hide out. Really, I had expected more reason from you."

"Oh, Lily, lighten up! Come here, we haven't even properly said hello." Sirius stretched out his hands at her, tilted his head and smiled his typical puppy dog smile at her. His dark fringe fell elegantly on his forehead and shaded his eyes, making his whole face a study of innocence.

Grimacing at not being able to resist Sirius' charm, she let him come forward and let him hug her, but let go of him after a few moments and growled, "We ought to be more careful. And we should find out where we are." She turned around and, still shaking her head about how two grown-up men could be so irresponsible and childish, she started following the underground corridor, now having lit up her finger, too.

James and Sirius shared a boyish look, which made Leo and Amy roll their eyes and snicker at the behaviour of the two Marauders. Their adventure in the new book world was starting just as they had imagined it. James and Sirius shrugged at Lily's determined pace and gestured the twins to follow their mother, so that they could make up the rear.

The tunnel dragged on and on and on. They must have walked for many hours through the darkness, when the ground finally began to rise. Soon they came across what must have been a staircase many decades ago. Now it was just a steep stretch of moss-covered stony floor, in which one could still assume steps.

They climbed up the staircase with difficulty, having to use their hands several times to keep their balance. After five minutes of climbing, the ceiling didn't rise along with the ground any longer, but tipped into a horizontal level. Just when it was impossible to go any further without actually crouching along on their knees, Lily, who was still leading the small group, found a trap door above her head.

With an asking look at her husband and Sirius, she carefully tried to push it open, but it wouldn't budge. James came crouching forward to help her, stemming his shoulder forcefully against the heavy wooden shield, but even working together, Lily and James couldn't move the door for even one single centimetre.

"It's probably locked," commentated Sirius.

Lily nodded and touched the wood with her palm. "Alohomora!"

Applying the unlocking charm was apparently not working either.

"Hmmm, the Blasting Curse then?" suggested James, looking inquiringly at Sirius and Lily.

Sirius shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Lily considered the door and the long tunnel where they had come from for a few more seconds, before she nodded reluctantly. "We don't have too many other options, have we?" she sighed. "Best stand back a little," she advised her children.

Amy and Leo backed down two or three steps, but made sure they could still see everything their parents and Sirius were doing. That was going to be so exciting to watch something be blown up by magic.

The adult wizards stretched out their hands towards the door. "On the count of three then," said Lily tersely, not knowing what would await them behind the door. "One - two - three."

"Reducto!" shouted all three of them and the wood above them splintered with a horrible crack and shot upwards. Some of the shards were sprayed into the room above them, but a considerable amount of wood and dust showered Sirius, James and Lily as well.

The five of them stood stock still, listening closely into the heavy silence after the crash. When they could hear no shoutings or footsteps, however, they, Lily, James and Sirius looked at each other and Lily nodded slightly. James stepped carefully under the blasted hole in the ceiling and squinted up through the dust, which was still swirling around.

He couldn't make out anything. The room was just as dark as the tunnel. After another glance at Sirius he climbed up into the room and lit it up with his wandless Lumos-Charm.

"Urgh, that's disgusting!" James muttered as he looked around in the room he was now standing in. It was so small that probably only one or two more people would fit in next to him, and then it would be extremely tight. The room was mostly filled with a large, old-fashioned boiler. Right underneath the pipes lay a heap of dirty and ragged clothes and blankets. They were covered with stale bread crusts and mouldy bits of cheese. Here and there lay some coins or broken picture frames. At the opposite wall of the room he could make out a narrow door.

James raised his eyebrow at the mess and pressed his body between the rusty pipes to get to the door. Slowly and carefully, hoping that it wouldn't creak so loudly, he opened it and peered into a large, dimly lit basement kitchen. The place seemed vaguely familiar to him. He was sure that he had been here before. Realization hit him and he gasped.

"Padfoot," he called softly back into the darkness, where he knew the others were waiting for him. "You are never going to believe where we are."

James looked back to the trap door, where Sirius had already climbed through the hole and now helped his family to climb up as well. The twins joined him at the door to the kitchen after scrambling between the pipes.

"So, where are we, Dad?" asked Leo. Meanwhile they were all standing in the kitchen, as there was simply no space in the boiler room.

"That's my home." Sirius came through the door behind Lily at last. He let his gaze go around the deserted room, grimacing. "Nice to be back," he said sarcastically.

***

"The Weasleys really know how to celebrate." Tonks grinned and leaned next to the front door while Remus fumbled with the keys. "I can't remember the last time I had so much fun."

Remus turned and looked at her, her bright pink hair glistening in the early morning sun. "I've never had so much fun before," he said softly, looking down, and then taking a decision he raised his eyes to meet hers. "Nymphadora, that was the most beautiful day I have ever had because I could spend it with you."

Tonks grimaced. "Remus, that's really sweet of you to say, but why can't you just call me Tonks?"

Remus smiled flirtingly, if a little unsecure at her, while he tilted his head and tentatively came closer. "Because I was hoping that sometime in the near future we could change your last name into Lupin," he whispered and pulled a small box out of the pocket of his jacket.

But before he could even open it and present its content to Tonks, she stepped back abruptly and gaped at him

"Remus... was that...do you mean...are you telling me... you want to - propose to me?" she stumbled across her words.

They stared at each other for a few more moments, neither of them knowing what to say.

Remus paled as he felt his stomach drop into a bottomless hole. "I... I'm sorry, I thought you were trying to persuade me for... I'm so stupid."

He stuffed the box back into his pocket and turned on his heel, and stormed down the steps. That was apparently enough to wake Tonks from her trance. "Remus, wait! Please wait!"

Remus didn't want to wait. It hurt and it was embarrassing. He had been so sure that Tonks loved him that she was willing to be with him although he was a werewolf. He had thought he had seen it in her eyes, when she had caught Fleur's bride's flowers.

He had told her several times that he wasn't the right one for her, that she deserved someone young and whole. She had made such an effort to convince him that she really didn't care about his being poor or older than her or even this dark curse he was suffering from - and now? Maybe she had seen sense after all and realized that she deserved someone better. How could he have dared to hope?

"Yes!"

Remus stopped. He heard steps running closer rapidly behind him, and then felt a soft hand on his shoulder.

"Remus, yes. Yes, I want to marry you!"

Remus turned around slowly. There was Tonks smiling at him through unspilled tears. "I'm sorry, I was just so surprised...you told me a million times, that there's no way..." She smiled a bit sheepishly at him and shrugged. "Guess I'm a bit clumsy sometimes, am I not?"

Remus grinned, feeling a huge wave of relief and happiness washing over him, before he noticed that Tonks was looking intently at him, asking for permission with her eyes, before she gently pulled him closer to kiss him.

But before she could succeed, Remus put his hands on her arm to stop her. He swallowed hard and said hoarsly, "No, let me propose properly first."

He pulled the little box out of his jacket once more and this time managed to open it in front of Tonks. He looked up and found her eyes with his.

"Nymphadora, do you want to marry me?"

"Yes," she whispered, totally overwhelmed, "yes, Remus, I want to."

Tonks still couldn't believe it. When Remus slid the ring over her finger she seemed to drink in every little detail of his face with his eyes. Every tiny feature of his face fit together to a whole, which she had learned to love during the last two years. From those kind and warm amber eyes to the subtly curved eyebrows, from the straight nose, to the slightly rough and dry lips, from this unique combination of thick brown hair, streaked with black and grey strands to the short white line next to his left eye, a cut from his school boy days.

When the ring was placed on her finger Remus looked up and caught her eyes with his. Seeing the love in them, Tonks realized that it was really true. She was going to marry Remus John Lupin. She couldn't help to let out a whoop and threw her hands around his neck lifting up her legs, so that Remus was basically carrying her.

Tonks felt how Remus was shifting slightly under her weight and she drew back to find him looking at her amusedly. "Don't want to interrupt you, but weren't we going to kiss?" He grinned.

She stuck out her tongue and grinned back at him, before he gently placed his hand around her neck and pulled here in a soft but passionate kiss.

Remus broke the kiss after some moments. "Let's go into the house. Moody would have our heads for behaving so obvious right in front of head quarters."

They ascended the stairs to the front door, where the key was still sticking in the lock, forgotten by both of them in the events of the last ten minutes.

Remus smiled a guilty smile when he turned it around. They opened the door quietly and stood in the dark and musty hallway of Grimmauld Place Number 12.

"I still don't like this house very much," said Tonks with a frown. "We'll get our own place soon, won't we?" she asked softly as not to wake the portrait of Mrs. Black.

Remus smiled indulgently at Tonks as he pulled her into another kiss. Holding her around the waist with his left arm, he opened the kitchen door with his right hand.

***

"Okay, let's be a bit careful around here," whispered Sirius. "In my will I gave this house to Harry, but you never know whether my dear cousin Bellatrix didn't find a way to get it into her dirty hands," he spat Bellatrix's name with such venom that Leo and Amy exchanged a glance with raised eyebrows.

Lily and James crossed the kitchen and Lily put her ear against the door.

"I can't hear anything," she mouthed to her husband.

James nodded and carefully put his hand on the door knob. Just when he was about to open it, there were noises in the hall. Someone was opening the front door. There were soft voices.

James stepped away from the door and pulled Lily with him, who was on her way back into the room already anyway.

"Someone entered the house. We better hide," he whispered urgently to Sirius and the twins.

They had barely time to duck behind the kitchen counter before the door opened and two people stumbled into the room, totally oblivious to their surroundings, kissing passionately.

When they saw who it was, James and Sirius exchanged a surprised and appreciative grin.

"Oi, Moony," laughed Sirius, "I'm not even gone fourteen months and you are already making out with my baby cousin!"