Chapter 2
Teddy’s laughter filled the air and Harrie smiled to herself. He was always such a happy child and she’d never tire of hearing it.
Harrie slowly became aware of her surroundings. The bed she was in was quite possibly the softest one she’d ever slept in. They must be in one of the old Order safe houses.
As Harrie opened her eyes, she noticed the red stone walls, as if the room was carved into the stone itself. Are we in a cave? Why would a cave be so nicely furnished?
She heard Teddy’s laughter again and a scuffling on the floor and it all came back to her.
Greyback’s pack tearing her apart.
The Department of Mysteries.
The Veil.
And.. Sirius?
She had died. Finally. But she got Teddy and her friends killed, too.
“Mummy! Mummy waked up!” She sat up as Teddy climbed into her lap and she held him close.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” she cried into his hair, still a messy black as it usually was when she was around. “I’m so sorry Teddy Bear.”
“Mummy sad?” Teddy asked, pulling away and putting his hands on her cheeks.
There was a whine and Harrie saw a shaggy black dog with familiar grey eyes laying on the floor.
Teddy squirmed to get down and run to the dog, who started chasing his tail and stopped to lick Teddy’s face.
“Silly Puppy!” The dog met her gaze with concern as Teddy wrapped his arms around the dog’s neck.
“Sirius?” Harrie whispered. “Is that really you?”
Suddenly the dog was a man, looking healthier than she had ever seen him before. He had gained some weight, face no longer gaunt and waxy, and his hair had a healthy shine. His grey eyes were shining with tears.
“Harriet?” And then she was in his arms, clinging to his shirt, sobbing harder than she ever had before. His arms came around her and held her tight and she felt his own tears falling on her neck.
“Mummy?” Teddy was tugging at her trouser leg. She picked him up and hugged him close.
“Yes Teddy Bear?”
“Mummy, where the puppy go?” His sweet face looked so confused with the little wrinkle between his eyebrows that she couldn’t help but laugh.
“Teddy, I want you to meet someone very important.” She looked up at Sirius as he stared curiously at Teddy. “Teddy, this is Uncle Padfoot and he is so important to me. He’s family. Can you say ‘hello’?”
Teddy looked shyly at Sirius and gave a tiny wave. “Hello Pa’foot.”
“Hello, little one.” Sirius was grinning from ear to ear and Teddy yawned.
“I think someone needs to rest,” Harrie said, tucking Teddy into the giant bed.
She and Sirius sat together on the couch facing a fireplace.
“Where is everyone else?” Harrie asked. She thought it was strange that Sirius was the one to greet her in the afterlife. Surely her parents would have wanted to see her.. Unless they really were disappointed in their daughter. The thought was crushing. But that didn’t explain why Remus and Tonks weren’t waiting here for Teddy. Something wasn’t right.
“Hermione and the blonde girl are here-”
“No, Sirius. Where are my mum and dad? Where’s Remus?”
Sirius looked at her with a mix of concern and sadness. “Harrie.. Your parents are dead. They have been for many years now.”
She sighed. “I know that, Sirius. But so are you. And I guess so am I, and so is Teddy. When can I see my parents?” She was trying not to cry again, but she was losing patience. She’d waited so long to meet her parents, she didn’t want to wait any longer.
“Harrie. I’m not dead, and neither are you.” He looked heartbroken as he finally understood what she was asking him. “This isn’t the afterlife, pup. You’ve just managed to find yourself in another world like I have.”
Her tears spilled over and she was crying in his arms again. She didn’t know how to feel. She should be happy that Teddy and her friends weren’t dead. She should be happy that Sirius wasn’t dead. But all she could feel was crushing disappointment. She had thought, hoped, that the veil would be her loophole in immortality.
It could have been minutes or hours later when she pulled away from Sirius again.
“It is good to see you, Padfoot.” She smiled sadly at him.
“It’s good to see you, too, pup.” He tugged her into a one armed hug and she leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. “It seems like I’ve missed quite a bit. You’ve got a kid?”
She chuckled softly. “Teddy is everything to me.”
“So.. er.. Who’s his father?” He seemed to find the topic uncomfortable, even though Teddy seemed to already have him wrapped around his finger.
She didn’t think much of the question when she absentmindedly answered “Remus,” until Sirius suddenly was standing, yelling “WHAT?!”
“Shhh! Padfoot, don’t wake Teddy!” she whispered harshly.
He sat back down and looked like he was going to be sick.
“You and Remus? You’re.. Together?”
“What?! No, goodness no!”
“Teddy calls you ‘Mummy’,” he said, confused.
“Teddy calls me that because I’m the only parent he’s ever known, Sirius.” She took a deep breath. She hated to do this. “Remus and Tonks died, Sirius. It’s been nearly three years since the final battle.” Her eyes watered and she tried to hold back the tears. “We lost the war, Sirius. The final battle was at Hogwarts. We tried to evacuate all the underage students and we did everything we could to keep them out of the school.” Her tears were flowing freely now. “We lost so many people, Sirius. There were so many death eaters and they had the dementors on their side. The giants and acromantulas, Greyback’s pack, vampires. So many students died that night. Bellatrix killed Molly and Ginny. Fred was crushed by a collapsing wall. Ron.. It was fiendfyre. He died getting Hermione and me out.”
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Sirius pulled a nearly hysterical Harrie back into his arms, running his fingers through her dark hair as she cried into his chest.
“Shh.. It’s ok, pup.” It wasn’t ok, but there was nothing he could do. He felt just as useless as he had when he’d been stuck hiding in his family’s ancestral home. “It’s ok, Harrie. You’re safe here, Teddy is safe. It’s gonna be ok.”
He kept whispering to her until he felt her breaths slow and he knew she’d fallen asleep. Only then did he let his mind wander to everything she’d told him.
Remus was dead. They’d lost the war. And Remus died.
The part of him that still had hope that he’d make it home again broke. But at least Harrie was here. At least I can keep her safe this time.
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Rhys was lying awake in the bed he was forced to share with Amarantha. She had long since tired herself out, using his body, and was sleeping peacefully. He wished he could rip out her throat.
He couldn’t find sleep, though. He worried about Velaris, about whoever had breached the wards that were supposed to keep his people and his family safe.
He wondered if it was because of the magic he had placed around his city that he was getting feelings and snippets of thoughts from the intruder. Or was it a trick on their part? What was going on? He thought about everything he had heard and felt through the strange bond that day.
A child giggling, a dog barking.
Confusion.
A tall man with long black hair, a child with messy black hair and green eyes.
Happiness, grief.
“Harrie, I’m not dead and neither are you.”
Confusion.
“This isn’t the afterlife”
Grief, so much heartbreak.
“We lost the war.”
Grief and guilt.
He didn’t know what any of this meant, but he got the feeling that she wasn’t a threat to his people. He wondered since he was getting feelings and thoughts from her, could he send his own back to her?
He was pretty sure she had fallen asleep. He didn’t feel anything from her end of the bond.
So he pushed his own thoughts towards her. As an experiment, to see if he could send a message of sorts.
And for the first time in decades, he felt the stirrings of something dangerous in his heart.
Hope.