Promises Remembered

Promises Remembered

The Sequel to Promises Unbroken

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Come What May

They stepped off the train and into a clear but darker than usual night, with the nervous first years hanging towards the back and the confident older students leading the way. Harry and Ron exchanged a half smile--it was nice not to be the new students, nice to know what was going on and where they had to go. What was even nicer was not having to cross the lake in those small boats; the horseless carriages were waiting for them, and the Misfits headed in that direction, ignoring Percy's yelled command to "Slow down, for Merlin's sake!" However, the group did pause to wave a quick farewell to Ginny as she joined the other first years on their way to the boats.

Wordlessly, the five of them squeezed into one carriage, ignoring some other prefect's order to split up. They didn't feel like great company tonight, and the person the Misfits had most wanted with them was still stuck at home, over 125 miles south of Hogwarts. Worse, Fred and George hadn't even been given a chance to tell Lee that they weren't coming--they'd hardly caught the train before it left. Even the other Misfits hadn't known about the failure until the twins had walked into their compartment, downcast and defeated. But they hadn't given up yet.

However, as the horseless carriages rattled up the drive, Harry had a hard time figuring out what they might do. What other choices were left? It wasn't right that Lee was excluded from the magical world solely because of his mother's fear, and it wasn't fair to Lee that no one other than his friends sought to help him. Someone like Professor Lupin should have been the one to bring him back, but all the adults would say was that it was Mrs. Jordan's decision to make. Even adults who should have known better.

Harry bit his lip. They had to do something. All that was left to do was figure out what.

Flashbulbs exploded in his face, and James blinked at the bright light. The photographers were going crazy, as if the seventh picture they shot in quick succession would look any different from the six before it. The cynical thought allowed him to smile wryly, and years of practice turned the expression into something more friendly. His years as the leading Auror and then time as head of the DMLE had taught James how to project a public image, and he needed those skills now. Somehow, he had ended up as Minister of Magic in one of the world's most trying times, and James knew that people did not need to see him worried. They didn't need to see him frown. They needed him confident, secure, and serene. And he would show them what they needed to see.

James suppressed the sigh that wanted to rise. They also didn't need to see a wheelchair-bound Minister of Magic, but he couldn't help that. For some things, there was no turning back.

Reporters were shouting questions, but he waved a hand for silence. Curiously, the reporters were the first to comply, though it took a long moment for the crowd to follow suit. He hadn't expected such a turnout for a simple speech; in fact, James had anticipated the exact opposite. Fear of Voldemort should have driven so many to stay away. Was it a good sign that they had not?

He took a deep breath and started to speak.

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

"And that's final!" Miranda Jordan thundered at the top of her lungs, and for such a little woman, Lee's mum had a big voice. She would never manage to rival Mrs. Weasley for sheer volume, of course (and was, quite thankfully, not nearly so high-pitched), but she would definitely place second in any screaming contest.

At the moment, Lee felt that second was quite bad enough.

"But, Mum--"

"Absolutely not!" she cut him off angrily. "If your friends trying to rescue you wasn't bad enough, you now decide to try to sneak out, to run away--"

"Mum, I just want to go back to school!" Lee objected, trying desperately not to sound like a five year old. Oh, why had Mrs. Weasley had to helpfully call to tell his mum what Fred and George had planned? Whose side was she on, anyway?

"You'll be going to school starting Monday," his mum retorted righteously. "A normal school, where you can't be hurt by the likes of the people who killed your father."

Lee groaned. He missed Dad, too, but he didn't try to throw Dad's death in his mother's face every time something didn't go his way. "Hiding isn't going to help," he grumbled for the millionth time. "It's not like he'd want me, anyway. I'm just a kid."

"You're right. You are a kid--my kid, and that means no sneaking out." His Mum gestured angrily with the silver wristwatch she held in her hand. "Especially not using this Pop Key."

"Port Key."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever it is, I'm destroying it."

"Mum, no!" Lee pleaded. "It was a gift!" And it's my only way back.

"You should have thought of that before you tried to sneak out using it," she replied archly, and Lee felt his scowl grow deeper. I should have thought of that before I got caught, he thought angrily, but didn't say so. That certainly wouldn't help him at all, but he still had to try one more time. Mum used to appreciate what Hogwarts meant to him.

"You don't understand. I can't be normal. Magic is what I am, and all my friends are at Hogwarts."

"No, I don't." Her voice grew softer. "But my job, Lee, is to keep you safe, even if that doesn't always make you happy, too." She tried to smile, and failed. "I'm sorry. Hopefully you can go back to Hogwarts next year, but now is not the time."

Lee sighed. He knew what was coming--it was inevitable, and Mum continued in that same reasonable voice.

"Now, I want you to promise me that you won't try to run away again," she said quietly. "All right?"

"All right." Lee groaned out loud, and didn't care if Mum heard it. "I promise."

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

The Sorting Hat ended its song with a big smile, yet to Harry, that smile somehow seemed...false. While the Hat had finished on a happy and optimistic note, Harry couldn't help but remember the darker words at the heart of the song, speaking of unity in the face of darkness and four houses, separated by belief. The thought made him swallow; he had known for some time that the war had come to Hogwarts, yet this made it real. Despite his conversation with his mother, Harry had wanted to believe that Hogwarts was safe. He had always wanted to imagine the school as the Wizarding world's last refuge against evil...and it was. But even Hogwarts could not stand forever.

Standing beside the Sorting Hat, Professor Snape lifted a scroll without so much of a glance at the first years. Harry snorted. "Well, he hasn't changed at all," he remarked in an undertone to Ron.

"You're wrong," his friend replied. "I think his hair got greasier."

"Ron!" Hermione hissed from the redhead's other side. "Hush! They're starting!"

The boys snickered, and Harry caught Fred's eye across the table. The twins were both laughing--already plotting, no doubt, which always made them happy. Harry's grin widened. It was good that the Weasleys were on his side, else his Hogwarts experience might have turned out very miserably indeed.

Professor Snape read out the first name, and a short girl stepped forward in response to, "Bradley, Amanda."

The answer came almost immediately, and the hat smiled while it shouted: "Ravenclaw!"

And so another year at Hogwarts began, starting just like the last and a thousand classes before that one. Since the beginning, students had been sorted into their appropriate houses, and Harry sincerely hoped that it would always be that way. No matter what happened, Hogwarts was timeless, and there was a great deal of comfort to be found in tradition. Even if things weren't as safe as they had once been, Hogwarts was still Hogwarts, and that would always remain.

Except for this year, when everything changed.

"Hopper, Geoffrey."

Professor Snape's voice rang emptily in the stillness, but only silence greeted it. The first years looked at one another nervously, but no one stepped forward. Immediately, the Deputy Headmaster's dark eyes swept over the group; although a few children backed away from his glare, none moved. Snape's voice took on an edge.

"Hopper, Geoffrey," he repeated.

No one moved, and a murmur ran through the hall. Across the table, Harry met Fred's wide eyes without completely comprehending what was happening, but he knew that something had gone wrong.

"Hopper, Geoffrey."

Nothing happened. For the first time, Harry saw Snape's composure crack, and the greasy-haired professor glanced over his shoulder at the headmaster for instructions. Harry followed his gaze, and noticed that Remus' blue eyes were dark...but his expression did not change. He seemed unsurprised, and simply nodded.

Snape turned back, took a deep breath, and moved on. "Isaacs, Anthony."

For awhile, everything seemed to go fine. Perhaps Geoffrey Hopper had been a fluke, someone who had missed the train, moved, or had changed their mind at the last minute. Five new students were sorted, then six, and then a seventh. The eighth, however, was not there. Nor was the ninth.

The students were whispering loudly, now, and the first years looked positively terrified. Everyone was looking around, trying to find the missing three students, but Snape plowed on, and Harry had to admire the man's persistence, if nothing else. Student number ten (Johnson, Kelly) was sorted into Gryffindor, followed by two Slytherins, a Hufflepuff, and three Ravenclaws. And then, yet again, nothing. Three prospective students did not show--one of which, Robert Lichtenstein, was the only child of one of the Fourteen Families. Harry had never met him, but knew the name, and knew that she should have been there.

Where are they? so many voices whispered. What happened?

But Harry knew.

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

Long experience as a friend of Fred and George Weasley had taught Lee how to use darkness, and the night of September 1, 1992, was no different. Night had fallen by the time his mother settled in front of the television, and Lee made a point of ignoring her, more out of principle than anything else. He loved his mother. He even respected her grief, and understood that she feared he would share his father's fate But Lee didn't respect the fact that she wanted him to change what he was just to accommodate her fears. And promise or no, he wasn't going to.

Sighing quietly, Lee slid his window open. Fortunately, theirs was a relatively old house, and the locks on his windows had long since fallen to pieces. No one had ever bothered fixing them. Who was going to rob an Auror's house, anyway?

The thought of his father made Lee swallow. There were so many mornings that he expected to see his dad sitting at the kitchen table, with the Daily Prophet in one hand and a cup of orange juice in the other. The memories weren't nearly as painful now as they had been, but Lee could still feel the familiar anger boiling within him. Someday, somehow, he would play a meaningful role in the war. He would finish what his father had started. It wasn't a dream he ever mentioned to his mum, because she'd be likely to lock him into a loony bin and never let him out again if he did, but Lee still dreamed. Someday, he would do what had to be done.

The window slid open without a sound of protest, which he took as a good sign. Slowly, Lee slid one leg out the window, then angled his Cleansweep Nine through after it. The small knapsack followed, and again he thanked his lucky stars that Fred and George had snuck his trunk to Hogwarts. He didn't know what had gone wrong with their plan, or where they were, but he couldn't afford to wait any longer. Either way, he'd get to school, and if he met them halfway, so much the better.

Taking a deep breath, Lee eased himself the rest of the way out, listening carefully for any noise from downstairs. But his Mum kept watching those horrid Muggle dramas that she enjoyed, and the volume level didn't change. Carefully, he swung his right leg over the broom, kicked, and then was airborne.

For a moment, Lee bit his lip. "Sorry, Mum," he said to the night, meaning it with all his heart. He didn't want to hurt her, but he had to go back. He only wished she could understand that.

"Helga Hufflepuff once said that the greatest heroes surface in the darkest times. They come without warning, but they come all the same. They come because they are needed, rise to the occasion because someone must, and do the impossible even when hope is lost."

James' eyes swept over the crowd, seeing several people blink at this unexpected beginning. But others cocked their heads to listen more closely, and he continued.

"Heroes, however, come in all shapes and sizes. And not all heroes are the obvious ones who battle darkness on the front lines, who risk death day in and day out. Some heroes exist beneath the surface, but they are there all the same. Heroes are those who help others without thinking of themselves, who work today to ensure that the world their children will inherit is better than the one we see today. Heroes are the ones who do what must be done, yet do not expect recognition or reward.

"People say that our world needs heroes. I reply that our heroes are everywhere. Look around. Everyone who fights back, even in the smallest way, is a hero. We can't all be Aurors and defend an entire society against Death Eaters, but that does not matter. We can all be heroes. We can all fight back."

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

Even Snape's face looked strained when five, and then six, students failed to show. And harsh looks from professors were not enough to silence the rest of the student body, who looked around as if waiting for the absent students to appear at any moment. But no one did, and Deputy Headmaster doggedly worked his way towards the end of the list, reading name after name, and never knowing when one might not step forward.

By now, Remus looked pained. He hadn't looked surprised before--had he expected this? Harry wondered sadly--but now he seemed very sad. Disappointed? Perhaps. He watched Snape continue without flinching, but Harry knew he had to be burning inside.

The list was nearing the end. There were only three students remaining after Jason Reagan was sorted into Hufflepuff. Then Zacharias Smith went to Ravenclaw, and then:

"Thomas, Juliet,."

Again, nothing. Snape let out a breath, repeated the name once, and moved on. Ginny, who was promptly sorted into Gryffindor, but no one noticed that nearly so much as they noticed the seven students who were not sorted at all. Even the Misfits cheering was subdued; they were happy for Ginny, yet the depression was infectious. There had already seemed to be fewer first years than usual...but what about the seven who did not come? What happened to Hogwarts when students were afraid to come?

James kept his voice quiet--there was no need to bluster or shout; the crowd could hear him perfectly well with all the charms ringing the square. He'd chosen to speak in Diagon Alley primarily because the street had become a symbol, but also because there was space. Now, he almost wished that he'd chosen somewhere larger, because the crowd packed the square tightly, but where else could there have been? Diagon Alley was all they had left, aside from Hogwarts, and Hogwarts had students today.

Fleetingly, he glanced up at the moon, and thought of Remus. Come what may, Remus would take care of them. He always did.

"I cannot make concrete promises. I cannot say that enough heart and enough resistance will make us win this war--but I can say that there are battles worth fighting. There are even causes worth dying for.

"We have seen too much death recently, I know. Twenty-seven innocent men, women, and children died here in Diagon Alley, simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We have mourned them. We will continue to do so. But the best way to remember them is to honor their sacrifices. Yes, they died unwillingly. But let us not memorialize them by losing hope..."

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

Remus stood, and watched hundreds of eyes fasten desperately on him. He was rarely nervous in front of crowds, not these days, but he had to swallow before he could will himself to speak. His words, however, came out calm and even.

"My prepared speech, it seems, is no longer so relevant as it was," he started softly. "Especially after what we have just witnessed Instead, I will speak of our need to stand together, just as the Sorting Hat did.

"Four different houses inhabit this hall. Four different creeds, different beliefs, and different traditions. But we do all have one thing in common: we all come from Hogwarts." Students were nodding, even some of the Slytherins. Young Malfoy looked extremely bored, but Remus was not speaking for his benefit. He was speaking to those who had yet to choose, and to those who still knew fear.

"No matter what happens, we are all heirs to Hogwarts' traditions. We are all part of something greater than any single house, greater than Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw. Together, we are far stronger than apart, something Hogwarts has proven again and again. And that is something we may have to yet again prove, in these dark days.

"I cannot promise that the war will not come to Hogwarts. It already has, in many ways--we have seen that, tonight, because there are seven young witches and wizards who are not among our number. Instead, they are at home, trying to escape the war in any way possible." He fought against the urge to swallow painfully. "I applaud your choice to continue. And I thank you for staying here, for staying together, when it would have been far easier not to.

"Come what may, I love this school. I know that everyone in this room feels the same. And I can promise you that no matter what happens, Hogwarts will remain."

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

The wind stung Lee's eyes, but for once, he was glad for the pain. It had been a long time since he'd felt so free, so himself. His mother's fear of all things magical had kept Lee from doing the things he loved most, and he hadn't been able to even touch his broom since his mum tried to destroy it. She doesn't understand, he thought to himself, trying not to feel guilty for breaking his promise. I can't just turn my magic off, but Mum doesn't see that.

Still, she would be horribly worried once she realized that he disappeared, and it finally occurred to Lee that he really should have left her a note. It wasn't as if Mum could stop him when he was flying high above Muggle means of transportation. But he hadn't thought of that, and now she'd worry. I'll owl her the moment I get to Hogwarts, he promised himself. I'm sure that no matter how mad Professor Fletcher is at me, he'll let me tell Mum that I'm okay.

That thought made him feel a little bit better, though Lee couldn't quite shake the guilty feeling. When he'd left, he'd been too angry to feel bad about what he was doing, but the cold wind helped him remember. No matter what, his mum was the only family that he had, and he didn't want to abandon her. Even if she didn't understand what he had to do, or why he had to do it. Lee smiled grimly, feeling the unseasonably cold wind bite a little harder at his face. I'll make it up to you, Mum. I promise. It was almost the last thought he ever had.

He was too distracted to notice the small red spark flying through the air until it hit, making the front end of his broom jerk up and almost out of his hands. Lee swore, making a desperate attempt to catch his balance, and barely had time to register the white light that suddenly exploded turned the night sky into day.

And everything went black.

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

Ron turned to Harry as the trio followed the rest of their classmates towards the Gryffindor Tower. "Can you believe that Professor Fletcher is finally teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts?" he asked, grinning. "He's an ex-Auror. I can only imagine the neat curses he'll show--"

"Oh, honestly, Ron. We're doing dark creatures this year, no matter who teaches it," Hermione interrupted him, making the redhead scowl and Harry snicker. Ron glared at him.

"Not you, too."

Harry shrugged. "She's right, you know."

"Of course she is," Ron snapped. "She's Ms. Know-It-All."

"Well, if you ever spoke to any of your older siblings instead of guessing, you would have known that, too," Hermione retorted.

Ron snorted. "With my older brothers? Can you imagine what Fred and George would make up?"

Hermione giggled, and a voice floated up from behind the trio in the crowd. "We heard that!" George declared. "And--"

"We resemble that remark," his twin finished.

"You resemble a lot of remarks, but this is hardly the place for all of them," another voice muttered.

"Now, now, Ginny. You aren't supposed to poke fun at your siblings on the first day," Fred admonished her as the three slid through the crowd of Gryffindors to join the rest of the Misfits.

"Aren't I?" the youngest Weasley retorted. "This is what you get for trying to turn my hair green during Headmaster Lupin's speech!"

George grimaced. "We would have succeeded, too, if Hermione hadn't turned spoilsport on us."

Hermione glared right back. "I thought Misfits didn't play tricks on Misfits," she retorted.

"No," Fred replied. "Misfits just--"

"Better expect revenge when the time comes," Ginny finished for him, smiling sweetly.

The twins exchanged distressed glances, and George threw his arms up in disgust. "Well, that does it!"

"It's final," Fred agreed.

"Horrible," George nodded.

Ginny looked between the two, confused. "What?"

"I can't believe it," George continued, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Such a shame..."

"Why, I can't understand--"

"Oh, will you two stuff it and tell us what it is?" Ron demanded, and the twins swung to look at him gravely.

"Well, it's irrevocable, now," Fred said grimly.

"Unavoidable."

Fred nodded sadly. "Ginny is one of us. A Misfit. Pure and simple."

George snickered. "She's entirely too evil to be anything else."

"It took you that long to decide?" Ron rolled his eyes, but Ginny just snorted.

"Well, I'm glad I have your approval," she told her older brothers. "Because I was becoming a Misfit if you liked it or not."

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

Lee tried to figure out if his eyes were open as he struggled to blink away the stars that danced before him. Belatedly, he figured out that those were actual stars, and that he was lying on cold grass, staring up at the night sky. It took a long moment for him to regain focus; his head was spinning like a crazy Muggle top, and he had a hard time remembering what had happened. After several minutes of blinking and squinting, Lee realized that he must have fallen off of his broom, and he started to roll sideways, figuring that it had to have landed somewhere to his right.

Instead of a broom, he found a pair of booted feet. Lee blinked in dizzy surprise, trying to figure out what they were doing there--as nearly as he could tell, he was in the same forest he'd been flying over when he'd...fallen? He shook his head, trying to clear it enough to make the feet go away, but as his eyes drifted upwards, he realized that the feet were attached to ankles. The ankles were attached to legs, and to a body...part of which was a hand that held his broom. This can't be good.

Finally, Lee remembered that he hadn't fallen off of his broom. He'd been knocked off by whatever caused that explosion in the air, which meant that someone had blown him straight out of the sky, and he would lay good bets that hadn't been his Muggle mother or any of her friends. And it certainly hadn't been Fred or George, either, because neither of them wore expensive black boots that looked like that. And if it wasn't them... A sick feeling began to grow in his stomach.

Lee staggered to his feet, and came face to face with Bellatrix Lestrange.

"So long as hope lives, darkness can never reign. So long as one person fights, the battle is not over," James continued softly. So many eyes were watching him, and he prayed that within them, there might be hope. Nodding to them, he continued to speak, his voice level and strong. And determined.

"I will fight. I will fight until the bloody end if I must, because I believe that our world is worth dying for. I ask you, today, to stand with me. Do not run away. If Diagon Alley proved anything to us, it is that there is nowhere left to hide, and I ask you, I beg you, not to try. Stand with me. Fight this until the end.

"I can offer you little more than words of hope. I cannot compare to men like Sirius Black, who faced the Dark Lord down and survived, only to pay a horrible price for his defiance. But he has kept fighting. And I know he always will.

"There are many heroes, both great and small, in this world. I ask you to step forward and be one of them, to carry this battle until the end, and to remember, if nothing else, that we fight for tomorrow."

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