Promises Remembered

RobinLady

Story Summary:
Sirius is ten years out of his time. Remus is having disturbing visions. James is struggling to hold the world together. Peter is trying to learn how to live without lies. In the sequel to "Promises Unbroken," the Wizarding World remains on the edge of disaster, and Voldemort seeks final victory.

Chapter 11

Posted:
02/10/2004
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1,619

Promises Remembered

The Sequel to Promises Unbroken

Chapter Eleven: Illusion of Fate

Three hours later, Sirius collapsed into a kitchen chair with a sigh. One by one, Remus, Lily, and the quartet of Aurors had dismantled every ward on Grimmauld Place, checking and rechecking, and trying to figure out what had gone wrong. Somehow, there had been enough kinks in the original design to let the Death Eaters approach the house unnoticed. Of course, the fact that those five had been able to see Grimmauld Place wasn't surprising--they were from some of the oldest families in the Wizarding World, and they all had been there before--but the fact that the wards hadn't tipped Sirius off to their presence was frightening. So, three exhausting hours later, the wards had been reworked and recharged...but the original problem had never been found.

Remus wasn't a paranoid or suspicious man by nature, but that was enough to put his teeth on edge. Looking at Sirius' drawn face didn't help matters, either; he knew that his friend was exhausted, not to mention worried.

They exchanged a glance, and didn't need words to communicate. It was July 29th, two days before Harry turned twelve. Less than thirty four hours, actually, which meant Voldemort's self-imposed deadline was coming up fast. If he was going to kill Harry, he didn't have much time.

And if Peter hadn't come back from France, Sirius would have been at St. Mungo's with James, and Lily and Harry would both be dead. Remus shivered, seeing the same expression on his friend's face. They had been lucky, and they both knew it. Extraordinarily lucky.

"So what now?" Alice Longbottom asked. Her pretty round face wore the serious and grim expression that Remus had grown accustomed to seeing these days, and looking at her made him wonder where their youth had gone. On one hand, it seemed like only yesterday that she was the laughing and happy Alice Hoppner, Ravenclaw prefect in Remus' first year and Head Girl in his third...yet on the other, those carefree days seemed to be centuries in the past. Remus swallowed back bittersweet nostalgia as Sirius replied.

"I think, at least for the next few days, that we'll have to keep Aurors here. I hate to tie up people like that, but I can't see any other options." He frowned, and let out a breath. "At least until we figure what went wrong with the wards."

"I'll stay," Dawlish said immediately. "It's not like I've got a wife and kids to go home to, anyway." He grinned as Alice arched an eyebrow. "Or a crabby mother-in-law and kid."

She snickered. "I happen to like my mother-in-law, thank you."

"You must be the only one," Francine Hoyt piped up. "I can't stand mine. Then again, maybe that's because she's a Muggle, and has a hard time understanding why I'm up at all hours doing all kinds of odd things."

They all chuckled, but the amusement was brief. The stress of the moment was weighing too heavily upon them for it to last any longer. "Are you sure, Derek?" Sirius asked. "I don't want to turn your life upside down, and--"

"The war's done that already, boss," Dawlish smiled sadly. "Little too later to fix things, 'cept bit by bit. Yeah, I'm sure. I'll do my part."

"I think it's a good idea," Alice nodded decisively. "At least until the deadline has passed." Her dark eyes narrowed. "Or until we can figure out where the holes are."

"I can help with that, too," Dawlish put in.

"All right, then," Sirius nodded, glancing at Remus. "Unless you've got a better idea."

Remus bit his lip thoughtfully. "Not really," he admitted with a sigh. "I mean, we could bring Harry to Hogwarts for safety, but..." he trailed off, looking at the boy's face. "What's wrong, Harry?"

James' son colored slightly as everyone turned to him. "Nothing," he replied quickly.

"Are you sure?" Remus asked gently. Harry had always been an awful liar.

"No--I mean, yeah." Harry turned an even deeper shade of red, then glanced down, studying the table uncomfortably. "I just don't like the way that everyone has to work so hard to protect me," he admitted quietly. "I mean, Sirius could have died today, and the four of you had to leave your homes and families and Hogwarts... It just doesn't seem right."

Lily reached out and placed a hand on her son's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Harry."

"I know it's not my fault," Harry looked up angrily. "But it's still not right that everything should come down to me. I didn't do anything. And even if I die, it's not going to make a difference. Not for the war, anyway."

"That's where you're wrong," Remus replied quietly. "Everyone matters. Every life, every death--that's what we're fighting for. We're fighting so that people don't have to life in fear, so that children don't die on Voldemort's whim. You are important, Harry. Both as yourself and to the war."

"But the prophecy," the boy objected. "It's all about an accident of birth, and it might not even be me any more."

Instinctively, eyes swung to face Sirius. Even though only Remus and Lily knew about the second prophecy, everyone turned to him--and again, Sirius responded. He'd always had the gift of doing the right thing at the right moment, no matter how irresponsible and crazy he could act the rest of the time. "No, it may not," he said quietly. "And it might not even be valid at all. But the important thing now is that Voldemort thinks it is. So he's coming after you.

"It's important to protect you Harry, not because some half-crazed seer said that you might defeat the Dark Lord, but because you don't deserve to be targeted like this." His blue eyes met Harry's green calmly. "It isn't fair to you, and if I could change the past, I would. But I can't force Voldemort to play fair. All I can do is fight to stop him. And every time we save you, we defy him again, and we win one more victory, proving that this isn't over."

Harry nodded, and Remus saw some of the bitter embarrassment fade from his eyes. He sighed. "I hate being a target."

"So do I," Sirius grinned, and Harry returned the smile--but only Remus read the shadows behind Sirius' eyes and knew the truth. In two days time, Voldemort's ultimatum would expire, and when that moment came, the Dark Lord would have to lash out. The most logical target for his fury was Harry, of course--Unless we distract him, Remus knew with cold certainty. Unless we provide a target that he can't afford to ignore.

His eyes met Sirius' across the table.

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Deadline minus one day. Lily had scheduled a meeting with the Unicorn Group for this day, but she'd owled instructions to Molly Weasley to handle matters without her. Everyone understood; the attack on Harry had been plastered all over the front pages of the Daily Prophet. The details hadn't been released, of course--there wasn't a Ministry of Magic to release anything, after all--but the Prophet had found out the barebones of the attack anyway. Several reporters had shown up while Sirius and the other Aurors cleaned away the burned out shell of the fire truck and disposed of the dead bodies (Lily and Remus had been pressed into impromptu-Obliviator duties, and had put out the fire at Number Thirteen before adjusting the memories of Sirius' neighbors). Though Alice had chased the inquisitive reporters away, it had been hard to hide the evidence of battle and destruction.

Take down the government, and the reporters remain, Lily thought bitterly. The most useless elements of society are always the last to go.

She sighed, and glanced back down at Merlin's Magic: A Guide to the Darker Enchantments of Old. Even though she couldn't meet with the Unicorn Group, research continued, and Lily had been reading all morning. The stack of books next to her worn armchair was growing higher and higher with each passing hour; Grimmauld Place was a fantastic resource for reading material, especially in the Dark Arts, a field that she had never been fascinated with, despite having married an Auror. Lily had finished Outlawed Magic an hour before, and prior to that had skimmed her way through Creatures of the Dark and The Evolution and Advancement of Modern Charms. The problem was that no book had the answers she was looking for, and Lily knew it. She didn't even know if there was an answer, but her job was to find out.

Within the Order of the Phoenix, the Unicorn Group had established a reputation for doing the impossible. Yet only Lily really understood how lucky they had been; how, out of the hundreds of projects they had started, only a few had been completed. Now, without a stable Ministry or Dumbledore's voice of experience to lean on, things were getting rough.

Lily blinked back tears. I will not think about that. Control was hard to come by, sometimes. Her mentor had been dead for only a little over a month, and it still hurt like hell. Entering the Wizarding world had estranged Lily from her remaining family--her parents were dead and Merlin only knew what had happened to Petunia, though Lily knew she'd married and had at least one child. But over the years, she'd assembled a magical "family" to replace what she'd lost. Remus, Peter, and Sirius had of course been a part of that--and Dumbledore. First with the Unicorn Group, and then at the Ministry, Dumbledore had become her mentor. Like Minerva McGonagall, he'd become someone to look up to and lean on when things got too hard. And now he was dead, like Minerva.

She hoped that they could see one another now, wherever they were.

Sighing, Lily returned her attention to Merlin's Magic. Dementors weren't even mentioned in the book (they hadn't existed back in Merlin's day, though, so that wasn't exactly a surprise), but there were some interesting theories on dark creatures. And as irrelevant as those theories might seem, they could possibly hold the key--

"Mum?"

Lily looked up. "Yes, Harry?"

"I don't mean to bother you, but..." He trailed off, standing in the doorway. Harry looked so uncertain, and that wasn't an expression that Lily was used to seeing on her son's face. It was the day before his birthday, and in any other year, in any other time, he should have been laughing and wondering and eager--but this year was different, and there was no use pretending that it wasn't.

"You're not a bother," she smiled, and put the book down. "Come in. What's wrong?"

Harry drifted over to another chair and plopped into it, his face downcast. "Well, uh, I was just wondering if maybe we can go to St. Mungo's tomorrow. To visit Dad."

A normal twelve year old would want presents for their birthday. Harry just wanted to visit his father, and the thought broke Lily's heart. And so did her response. "I'm afraid we can't, Harry."

"I know." His shoulders slumped. "Safety and all that. I just had to ask."

"I'm sorry, honey."

"It's not your fault, Mum." Harry tried to smile, and failed miserably. "It's not like we asked for this."

"True. But I'm still sorry." He's too old for his age, Lily thought sadly. Far too old. And as little as a year ago, that wasn't true. She resisted the urge to sigh. Is it wrong for me to want my little boy back?

"I know." Harry sighed, then brightened a little bit. "I talked to Dad this morning, though. He said Sirius and Remus are planning something huge for my birthday. Something that I'll 'never' expect." Suddenly, he was an eleven year old boy again. "D'you know what?"

Lily chuckled. "Of course I do."

"Mum."

"What?" she grinned, glad to see him whine again.

"That's not fair!" Harry objected.

"Of course it isn't," Lily agreed good-naturedly. "But that's the perks of being one of the grown-ups, dear."

Harry groaned and mumbled, "Stupid parents."

"What was that, Harry?" Lily arched an eyebrow.

"Nothing," he grumbled, making his mother laugh.

"That's what I thought." She grinned. "Now, why don't you be a good little boy and pretend that your father never opened his big fat mouth about your birthday surprise?"

"Mum! I'm not a little boy!"

"Of course you aren't, dear." Lily's grin turned wicked. "Now, how about a nice lollipop?"

--------------

Usually, he came to Avalon after dark. At any given time, there were at least four active Aurors on the island--the trainees were responsible for the security watches at night, but there were ways in that the candidates had yet to learn, and the Division's head knew them all. Usually, Black only stopped by for an hour or two, conversing quietly with Frank Longbottom and then going on his way, but every now and then he stayed longer. Bill had spoken to him a handful of times, but Sirius Black was far too busy to stay on the island for long, and the Aurors knew it. The news media had a hard time following the strikes that the remaining Aurors conducted on Death Eater strongholds, but those on Avalon had no such difficulties. They received reports for each one of them, and Bill knew what the media did not.

Like James Potter, Sirius Black was not the type of man who could lead from behind. In the month since the Aurors had made the move to Avalon, they had participated in seven actions (four successful, two not, and one that could hardly be counted either way) and Black had led each one of them. Like James, he wasn't the type who could ask someone to do something that he would not do first, but unlike his predecessor, Black seemed willing and eager to spit in the Dark Lord's eye. Private consensus between the instructors who were permanently posted on Avalon and their oft-visiting colleagues had decided that Black was deliberately courting Voldemort's wrath. Why he would want to, no one understood, but the reasons why he did so were obvious.

Somebody had to, after all. And Dumbledore was dead.

In that fact laid the reason Black had only visited Avalon after dark. He was a target--second only to young Harry Potter on the Dark Lord's list of people to kill--and putting himself in the open was just foolish. Pulling Voldemort's beard was one thing. Courting disaster was another.

Bill watched as Black climbed the stairs to the raised platform where the instructors had gathered to watch the twenty candidates of class 4904 negotiate the Labyrinth, Avalon's age old maze of tunnels, passageways, latent spells and unexpected surprises. Few made it through on the first try, especially with Kingsley's pet Crup added to the mess. Bill had no idea where Kingsley had managed to acquire the small creature, which strongly resembled a Jack Russell terrier except for its forked tail. Muggles and wizards both commonly mistook Crups for the simple canines that they resembled, but anyone who did so in the midst of the Labyrinth would find out that Daisy was very different from her distant Jack Russell cousins. Daisy hunted by sight, and once she had seen someone, she never forgot.

Predictably, Kingsley was rather mum about where he'd acquired Daisy and how she'd ended up with the rather odd name. But Frank had only grinned when Kingsley had suggested adding her to the Labyrinth, and Daisy had ruined the attempts of five candidates in quick succession. Muggle dogs could be stunned. Daisy had lived with an Auror long enough to know that dodging and faking worked much better.

The sixth candidate tripped coming into the maze, and Bill winced sympathetically. Nymphadora Tonks was downright brilliant in defense and concealment, but she was a complete and utter klutz. The girl had a hard time walking into one of the classrooms without tripping over her own two feet, which was a shame because she was near the top of her class without taking that into account.

A hand landed on his shoulder. "How are you doing, Bill?"

There were legions of questions hidden in the shadowed blue eyes. "I'm good," Bill replied levelly, knowing that the older man knew exactly what he meant. I've also learned the value of silencing charms. Some nightmares just don't go away.

"Glad to hear it." Black nodded easily. Then his gaze flickered to the maze; the instructors' platform was the only vantage point that allowed one to see the entire Labyrinth, though the underground parts were only visible through the use of Translucent Spells. "So, what do you think of this class?"

Bill glanced over at Hestia and Frank; they were the graders of this evolution, and were watching Tonks with undivided attention. Kingsley was down at the opening of the maze, ready to assist if a candidate got in trouble--which they almost always did--and watching the nervous candidates who had yet to attempt the maze. Today was the first time class 4904 had attempted the Labyrinth, though it certainly wouldn't be the last. Bill was just an observer this time, having the dubious honor of having drawn the short straw at breakfast that morning.

"They're learning fast," he answered. "Faster than we did, and faster than I would have expected." He shrugged. "But I guess they have to, don't they?"

"Unfortunately," Black agreed quietly. "Frank's reports say that you've moved into Ambush and Capture."

"Yeah. We're having to skim over some parts, but..." Bill shrugged again. "Dueling seems kind of unimportant when we think about what they'll be facing."

"I agree."

They watched in silence for several moments as young Tonks made her way through the First Wall, then followed her as she encountered Daisy for the second time. Unlike some of the others, she didn't make the stupid mistake of trying to stun the Crup a second time--instead, she dodged back behind the wall and changed direction. Daisy followed, of course, watching out for Tonks' brown hair and brown eyes--

"What the--" Bill cut himself off and blinked. "Did you see that?"

"Yes." Black frowned, and they both stared at the purple-haired, green-eyed woman who stepped back through the First Wall to look at Daisy. The Crup stared at her in confusion, then abruptly decided that this wasn't the person she was hunting, and ran back through the wall in the direction that Tonks had gone.

Grinning, the purple haired witch went on her way, and promptly tripped over a tree stump.

"I don't believe it," Bill said quietly as the pieces clicked into place. Tonks hadn't cast a spell on herself--besides Appearance-Changing Charms didn't work on Crups. They always saw right through them, which meant... "She's a Metamorphmagus."

Black was silent for a moment, then asked, "What did you say her name was again?"

"I didn't." Bill glanced at him. "But her name is Nymphadora Tonks."

"Tonks?" the other repeated with surprise.

"Yeah," Bill replied. "Do you know her?"

"No. Not her." Black snorted. "I do, however, know who she is." He grinned nastily. "And I know a lot of people who aren't going to be happy with the fact that she's here."

Just then, the moving wall clobbered Tonks and knocked her out of the Labyrinth.

---------------

Grumbling, Tonks leaned over to brush the dirt off of her pants. At least she'd been lucky enough to land three feet to the right of the gigantic mud puddle, but being thrown out of the maze by a moving wall wasn't exactly good for her ego. She'd felt so proud after avoiding the Crup--poor Horace. I bet he really did think that was a dog!--that she'd forgotten all about some of the nastier parts of the Labyrinth. And the moment her attention had wandered, the maze had grabbed the upper hand.

Tonks sighed. At least she'd made it further than anyone else had so far, which was better than she did most of the time. Usually, she felt like she was stuck in mediocrity, better than some of the class at some things, but worse than others at almost everything. It wasn't a feeling that Tonks relished, either. She was smart, and she knew it--but she'd never had to work hard at something before now. Schoolwork had always been easy because she loved to learn. Auror training, however, was turning out to be a different matter.

And the reverse-blood prejudice wasn't helping matters, either. For all of her life, Tonks had been looked down upon by the "better" Wizarding families because her father was Muggleborn. They said that she'd never be good enough because she wasn't pureblood, and wasn't worthy of being a Black. Now, though, things were different. For the first time in her life, Tonks was prejudged because of that Black blood, which automatically made her less than trustworthy. Her classmates rarely said it in so many words, but everyone knew that the Blacks were bad. And she was classified as one of them simply because of her blood.

Tonks sighed and checked her wand over for damage. One of the first lessons any candidate learned was to check their wand every chance they got--if Longbottom's confiscation of their wands on day one hadn't driven that home, Tonks didn't know what would. Fortunately, her wand was fine, if a bit dirty, which she fixed quickly enough using the hem of her robe.

She glanced back over her shoulder at the high walls of the Labyrinth. One try was all the candidates got, and she now had a little bit of free time before dinner, after which classes stared all over again. Twenty days into Auror Training, Tonks had come to realize how precious free time could be, and she headed towards the student quarters with another shrug. Chalk that one up to a lesson learned.

"Nymphadora Tonks?"

Startled, she turned to face a wizard she didn't know. Immediately, though, he looked familiar. He had shoulder-length black hair and a goatee, both of which were meticulously trimmed and cared for. His eyes were a crystal shade of blue and were piercing, almost, in their intensity, but somehow gave off the image of hiding something in their depths. But it was his features that she recognized the most. The precise angle of the cheekbones and the slightly bumped nose were classic Black.

"Yes?" she asked warily.

"Your mother is Andromeda Tonks?" he asked.

"What business is it of yours?" she demanded. Tonks was having enough problems without adding this stranger to the mix, and all she really wanted to do was take a nap before dinner. The aches were already starting to form from where she'd hit the ground, and that wasn't calculated to put her in a good mood. And that didn't even take into account the fact that her experiences with her mother's bigoted and pureblood fanatics of a family hadn't ever been good. So she stared at him, certain that she knew exactly what he was, and not liking it one bit.

It didn't help matters that his features reminded her very strongly of her Aunt Narcissa, who was a horrid and prejudiced woman if she'd ever met one. Her father's relatives, Muggles or not, were a much better group of people. Even if they were a bit strange, at least they weren't pureblooded maniacs. Tonks scowled as he raised his hands in mock surrender.

"I was just asking," he said easily.

"And why is that?" Tonks challenged him, sick and tired of being judged before people knew who she really was. "Wanting to check if I'm the half-blood in the perfect Black nest? Well, for your information, I am, and I'm damn well proud of it."

"Actually, I was wondering if your mother was Andromeda Black," the wizard replied. "Because if so, that makes us cousins." He smiled slightly, holding out his right hand. "I'm Sirius Black."

If Tonks could have died from embarrassment at that moment, she would gladly have done so. Open mouth, insert foot, she thought acidly. Why couldn't I have just tripped over something? Her face was flaming hot as intellect finally caught up with her foolish reaction. What other Black would be on Avalon, idiot? She really wanted to die, but he was still holding out a hand as if he expected her to shake it.

"Uh...hi." She tried to smile, but it didn't really work. Finally, though, Tonks managed to give herself a hard enough mental kick, and took his hand. His grip was firm, and his blue eyes studied her easily.

It was bad enough that she'd snapped at the one Black who hadn't sided with Voldemort. Why did he also have to be the most famous Auror alive?

"It's nice to meet you," he said.

"Likewise." Tonks bit her lip, glad that her hair wasn't purple anymore. That probably wouldn't have made a good first impression.

Black's eyes seemed to read her like a book. "I know that you don't have long, and I won't keep you. But I will say that I'm very glad to see you here."

She blushed suddenly, and felt like a two year old. "Thank you."

"It's a hard road to walk, especially as a Black. Even without the last name, people still look at you as if they expect you to be evil."

Tonks nodded mutely, almost mentioning the last time that she'd seen Aunt Bellatrix, but was unable to find the right words. But she knew exactly what he meant; Tonks had been encountering those feelings for her entire life. The newer families weren't so biased, but the older Wizarding families, especially those with traditional ties to the light, were the worst. There were a few families with virtual dynasties in the Aurors, and Tonks had already encountered resistance from them. She was fortunate enough that the likes of Hauntings and Binns were not in her section, but she wasn't blind. Tonks noticed the dark looks they shot in her direction, and didn't miss the fact that they believed she did not belong. Looking at the older Auror before her, however, only reminded Tonks how much harder it must have been when he had come to Avalon. Especially with that last name.

"Yeah," she finally said quietly. "It gets interesting sometimes."

His lips quirked into a smile. "That it does," he replied. "But I wish you the best of luck. I'm sure I'll see you again."

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