Black Turtle

Prologue

Riva Lupin all but threw herself out of the vehicle and into the scene before her. Her short, mousy brown hair looked as though it hadn't been brushed in months and her clothing was wrinkled enough to match. She was short and, upon fully realizing what lay before her, had all the color drained from her face.

She was followed closely by her uncle, Remus Lupin-of whom had become her legal guardian in the past few months-Harry Potter, and Albus Dumbledore. Remus had been driving the Muggle contraption known as a car-Riva fondly remembered her father loving his-and had stopped short of the massacre.

Riva stood in the midst of nothing that had once been something. Buildings had been burned to the ground, ashes were caught in the nighttime breeze that blew around her. Cloaks, which had once robed bodies, now lay empty, caught in the last position of their masters.

"Oh, God!" Riva cried. "No!"

Remus came up behind her. Aurors had finally arrived on the scene and were inspecting the area.

"We all tried to stop him from going, Riva. It's not your fault," her uncle said, placing his hands on her shoulders. She shrugged them off and turned to face him.

"We argued. I yelled at him. I called him things that I didn't mean...and now-" Riva left off, pulling all her strength to stop her tears from flowing.

Remus nodded, ever understanding. Harry now joined his side. For a boy of only sixteen, Harry always had an older aura about him. Riva and he had been friends since the moment she had stepped into Hogwarts for her sixth year, nearly ten months ago.

But it was now the end of June, and the summer was beginning. Except, Riva had a sinking feeling about this summer.

"Snape knew the risks," Harry said softly. "We all told him. You told him, and you were one of the few people he listened to. If he wasn't going to heed your warning, well..."

Riva nodded. She couldn't believe it! How could Professor Snape been such a blockhead!

She instantly felt guilty for that remark. She knew the worst had happened to him, and here she was, mentally telling him off. Tears welled up in her eyes again.

"Albus! Over here!" called Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody.

Riva, Remus, and Harry followed after the Headmaster to the place where Mad-Eye was standing. Moody saw her and lowered his head a bit.

"You may not want to see this, Miss Lupin," he said, his gruff voice just as low.

Riva pushed past him. On the ground below was something she distinctly recognized. It was Snape's cloak, and just like all the other cloaks here, it was empty.

"Oh God!" Riva cried out again, now sobbing.

She collapsed to her knees beside the cloak. She reached out a tentative hand to touch it, but quickly drew back, sobbing even harder.

"We all told him that Voldemort knew who the traitors in his fold were," Harry said quietly to Dumbledore, thinking that Riva might not hear them.

She did however. Her sobbing grew even louder. Dumbledore made no verbal reply.

"Let's leave the lass alone for a moment," Moody said.

Silently agreeing, the others followed. Riva starting taking deep breaths, trying to calm her sobs. She looked down upon the cloak before her.

"Well, perhaps your death was painless. I mean, your not a pile of ash, like all the other death eaters," Riva choked out.

She touched the cloak again but did not draw back this time.

"Why?" she asked, more to herself this time rather to the cloak. "Why did I have to be the last to see you al-" but she couldn't say it. Instead, she left that sentence there and continued on. "Why did we have to argue, Professor?"

Riva gave a small laugh as she thought back to the simple way their argument had started. It was so innocent. She had simply offered him a Fig Newton bar, a Muggle fruit bar that she had made him try once.

"He hated those things!" she said, a grim smile on her face.

Suddenly, something under the cloak moved. Riva gasped. It was just a small lump of something, moving very slowly. She also found herself recalling Snape telling her once that he owned a pet. He hadn't told her what kind, though.

She threw the cloak aside. There, on the ground before her, was a small, completely black turtle. Her eyes widened. Was this the pet? And why was it here?

She picked it up. It seemed to look indignantly up at her. In fact, she could've sworn that it did look indignantly up at her!

"Well, you're a life-like little creature, aren't you?" she said.

If turtles had eyebrows, it would've arched one at her.

"You must be Snape's pet! You seem so intelligent and that's the only way he would've had a pet! Oh, you poor thing," Riva said, noticing that the turtle looked distinctly sad. "I bet you miss him too. I know, I'll keep you! Now, what shall I name you?"

The turtle looked almost hopeful.

"Well, you are going to be a part of my family, and there's a little tradition in my family that says that the first born is given a name with an R. So, I'll call you Remington!"

The turtle looked depressed. However, Riva smiled. "Oh, come on!"

"Riva!" called Remus. "We have to go, sweetheart!"

Holding Remington close to her, Riva stood and walked back to the car where Harry and her uncle were standing.

"The Headmaster has agreed to let Harry come stay with us for the summer, then you'll both come back to go to school," Remus said.

This was second large loss Riva had suffered this year. Although Snape's loss-which she classified as the loss of a good friend-was great, it compared very little with the earlier loss of her parents.

Riva's parents-her Uncle Remus's brother and his wife-had perished in duel with a dark wizard. In their will, they had left Riva to Remus along with all their earthly possessions, which included a large house in America-a place that Riva's father had always fancied.

She nodded and climbed into the vehicle. Remus got into the driver's seat and started off in the direction of the airport. She turned in her seat as to watch as the scene of Snape's death grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Even Remington looked sad. Riva ran her index finger along the head of the turtle to comfort him.

"It'll be alright," she said. "It does get better."